Insulin resistance and intima-media thickness in the carotid and femoral arteries of clinically healthy 58-year-old men. The Atherosclerosis and Insulin Resistance Study (AIR).
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether insulin resistance was associated with ultrasound-assessed measures of atherosclerosis in men with varying degrees of obesity.


METHODS
A random selection of subjects from the general population were divided into quintiles of a body mass index/blood glucose score that was shown to be a valid and reproducible index of the degree of insulin sensitivity as assessed by the clamp technique. Every fourth man in quintiles 1 and 5 and every 20th man in quintiles 2-4 (in total, 104 men) were selected for an ultrasound examination of the carotid and femoral arteries and a euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp examination, adjusted for fat-free mass.


METHODS
A university hospital.


METHODS
A total of 104 clinically healthy 58-year-old men of Swedish ancestry.


RESULTS
The mean common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), but not the common femoral IMT, correlated significantly with glucose infusion rate (GIR) (r = - 0.20, P < 0.05), systolic blood pressure (r = 0.20, P < 0.05), pulse pressure (r = 0.23 P < 0.01), heart rate (r = 0.20, P < 0.05), HDL cholesterol (r = - 0.18, P < 0.05), log triglycerides (r = 0.28, P < 0.01), apoA1 (r = - 0.20, P < 0.05), apoB (r = 0.21, P < 0.05), LDL particle size (r = - 0.22, P < 0.05) and plasma insulin (r = 0.20, P < 0.05). In a multiple regression, common carotid IMT was independently associated with log triglycerides (beta = 0.25, P = 0.012) and pulse pressure (beta = 0.21, P = 0.031) (R2 = 8.7%, P = 0.005)


CONCLUSIONS
Insulin sensitivity, measured with the gold standard euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp method, showed similar associations with ultrasound-assessed measures of atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries as established cardiovascular risk factors, but only triglycerides and pulse pressure contributed independently to the variability in the common carotid intima-media thickness.
Bokemark
L
L
Department of Medicine and Wallenberg Laboratory for Cardiovascular Research, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden. bjorn.fagerberg@medfak.gu.se
Wikstrand
J
J
Attvall
S
S
Hulthe
J
J
Wedel
H
H
Fagerberg
B
B
D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015309:Glucose Clamp Technique; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017540:Tunica Media / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography