HOMA2-%B estimates pancreatic beta-cell function as a percentage, with 100% representing a reference healthy adult. It's derived from the same HOMA2 computer model as HOMA2-IR using fasting glucose and fasting insulin.
Beta-cell function is the other half of the metabolic story: HOMA2-IR tells you how resistant tissues are to insulin, while HOMA2-%B tells you how hard the pancreas is working. Values above 140% typically indicate compensatory hyper-secretion (an early insulin-resistance pattern), while values below 70% suggest beta-cell exhaustion, the inflection point where insulin resistance progresses toward type 2 diabetes. Tracking this trend over time catches metabolic failure before fasting glucose or HbA1c move.
Optimal HOMA2-%B: 90-110 %.
Typically re-tested every 10 weeks.