title: Basal insulin-level oscillations in normotensive individuals with genetic predisposition to essential hypertension exhibit an irregular pattern.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Insulin is secreted in regular pulses at intervals of 12-14 min in normal fasting subjects. An abnormal pattern has been found in subjects with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and in young individuals predisposed to NIDDM. It has been suggested that there might be a causal relationship between insulin-secretion abnormalities and insulin resistance.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether insulin-secretion abnormalities are also present in offspring of patients with essential hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven young (aged 18-35 years) normotensive individuals each of whom had two parents with essential hypertension were compared with 10 age- and sex-matched controls each of whom had two normotensive parents. We verified that diabetes and morbid obesity were absent among the subjects and their parents. We studied basal insulin-secretion patterns during a 60 min period, glucose tolerance by administering an oral glucose-tolerance test, insulin resistance by using an isoglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp and basal plasma catecholamine levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Autocorrelation analysis of insulin concentrations showed that the hypertension-prone subjects had a significantly reduced or irregular oscillatory pattern compared with the regular insulin-level oscillations with a period of 12-14 min in control subjects. The hypertension-prone subjects had significantly higher systolic blood pressures and tended to be insulin-resistant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first evidence of early insulin-secretion abnormalities in young normotensive individuals with a genetic predisposition to essential hypertension, but with a normal glucose tolerance and without a genetic predisposition to NIDDM. Early insulin-secretion abnormalities may be the very first step towards the development of insulin resistance and an important factor initiating the hypertension in hypertension-prone individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Glostrup Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: U B
authors.initials: UB
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dige-Petersen
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Frandsen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ibsen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vølund
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D015309:Glucose Clamp Technique; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D002395:Catecholamines; D007328:Insulin