Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an incretin hormone that facilitates insulin secretion and preserves β cell function. hypertriglyceridemia plays an important role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and T2DM. The purpose of this study was to measure fasting active GLP-1 levels in hypertriglyceridemia subjects and analyse the relationship between GLP-1 and insulin resistance. We recruited 146 subjects including 38 diabetes patients with hypertriglyceridemia, 33 diabetes patients without hypertriglyceridemia, 35 hypertriglyceridemia subjects, and 40 healthy subjects as the normal control group. Serum fasting active GLP-1 was tested with ELISA in the four groups, and associations with insulin resistance were analysed. Serum fasting active GLP-1 levels were significantly increased in hypertriglyceridemia subjects with or without T2DM compared with healthy controls, particularly hypertriglyceridemia patients with T2DM (p < 0.01). GLP-1 levels positively correlated with triglyceride (TG) levels, fasting insulin (FINS) levels, and HOMA-IR (p < 0.01). Furthermore, multiple stepwise regression showed that TG levels and HOMA-IR were independently associated with fasting active GLP-1 levels (p < 0.01). Hypertriglyceridemia was associated with elevated fasting active GLP-1 levels, and a significant association was noted between GLP-1 and HOMA-IR. This finding provides evidence that the increase in GLP-1 may play a compensatory role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance induced by hypertriglyceridemia.