Insulin resistance and hypertension.

The insulin sensitivity in hypertensive patients with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and the insulin resistance (IR) under the disorder of glucose metabolism and hypertension were studied. By glucose tolerance test and insulin release test, insulin sensitivity index (ISI) and the ratio of area under glucose tolerance curve (AUCG) to area under insulin release curve (AUCI) were calculated and analyzed. The results showed that ISI was decreased to varying degrees in the patients with hypertension, the mildest in the group of NGT with hypertension, followed by the group of IGT without hypertension, the group of IGT with hypertension and DM (P = 0). There was very significant difference in the ratio of AUCG/AUCI between the hypertensive patients with NGT and controls (P = 0). It was concluded that a significant IR existed during the development of IGT both in hypertension and nonhypertension. The increase of total insulin secretion (AUCI) was associated with nonhypertension simultaneously. IR of the hypertensive patients even existed in NGT and was worsened with the deterioration of glucose metabolism disorder, but the AUCI in the HT group changed slightly. A relative deficiency of insulin secretion or dysfunction of beta-cell of islet existed in IGT and DM of the hypertensive patients.