Lack of Association Between Both Insulin Resistance and Plasma Insulin Levels with Blood Pressure Values in Essential Hypertension

Aim: To evaluate the role of insulin resistance and hyperinsulinaemia in the genesis of essential arterial hypertension (EAHT). Subjects and Methods: We studied 49 patients (age 44 ± 8y., body mass index (BMI: 29.5 ± 3.2 kg · m^-2) with mild or moderate EAHT (systolic blood pressure: 156 ± 13 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure: 100 ± 6 mmHg). Patients with BMI > 27 kg · m^-2 were classed as obese. Arterial pressure was measured with a mercury sphygmomanometer after the patient had been lying down for 15 mm. For each patient, the results of a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIGT) were used to estimate insulin sensitivity (using the minimal model of glucose metabolism) and to characterize insulin secretion in response to intravenous glucose (area of the insulin curve above basal during the 180 mm of the FSIGT test). Correlations were evaluated by means of Spearman's correlation coefficient. Results: Neither fasting insulinaemia, glucose-induced insulin secretion nor insulin sensitivity correlated significantly with arterial pressure, either in the whole sample or in the obese and non-obese subsamples. Conclusions: These results suggest that neither insulin nor insulin sensitivity are important physiological regulators of arterial pressure, and lend no support to the hypothesis that insulin is related to essential arterial hypertension.

Key words

Insulin Sensitivity - Hyperinsulinaemia - High Blood Pressure - Minimal Model