Insulin and glucagon responses to adrenaline infusion in abdominal obese men.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the hormonal, cardiovascular and metabolic responses of visceral vs subcutaneous obese men to infused adrenaline.


METHODS
Intervention study of an hour adrenaline infusion (0.01 micrograms/kg fat-free mass/min).


METHODS
Eighteen moderately obese men (age: 30-40 y, BMI: 28-34 kg/m2) divided according to their degree (low vs high) of visceral adipose tissue (AT) accumulation.


METHODS
Various fatness and fat distribution variables (computed tomography and anthropometry), heart rate and blood pressure, plasma concentrations of gluco-regulatory hormones, glucose, glycerol and free fatty acids (FFA).


RESULTS
Similar increases were noted in heart rate, plasma adrenaline, FFA and glycerol levels in both low and high visceral AT groups after hormonal infusion. There was a tendency for plasma glucagon responses to be higher in men with high amounts of visceral fat (p = 0.07). Plasma glucose levels increased in both groups, but significantly more in men with low levels of visceral AT (p < 0.05), whereas plasma insulin concentrations increased significantly only in men with high amounts of visceral AT in response to adrenaline infusion (p < 0.01). In the overall sample of obese men, visceral AT accumulation (but not the fat mass) was positively correlated with plasma insulin (r = 0.70) and glucagon responses (r = 0.63) to the hormone infusion (p < 0.01). These metabolic responses were not related to the achieved catecholamine concentration.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that some of the impairments in plasma glucose-insulin homeostasis noted in visceral obesity may be related to an abnormal metabolic response to an adrenaline challenge.
Mauriège
P
P
Lipid Research Center, Laval University Medical Research Center, Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada.
Klein Kranenbarg
W M
WM
Prud'homme
D
D
Lamarche
B
B
Tremblay
A
A
Bouchard
C
C
Nadeau
A
A
Després
J P
JP
D000005:Abdomen; D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000097:blood; D005934:Glucagon / Q000097:blood*; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D005990:Glycerol / Q000097:blood; D006339:Heart Rate; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood*
D001786:Blood Glucose; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D007328:Insulin; D005934:Glucagon; D005990:Glycerol; D004837:Epinephrine