Insulin kinetic, glucose tolerance, and lipid metabolism in genetically spontaneous-hypertensive rats.

Genetically spontaneous hypertension in rats (SHR) showed a significant rise not only in systolic blood pressure in the early age groups, but also, from the 8th week of life onward, in diastolic blood pressure together with a rise in heart rates, when compared with control rats. Following an i.p. glucose injection a disturbed glucose tolerance, increased insulin level and a reduction in plasma triglycerides and cholesterol occurred. These findings in SHR allow to draw interesting analogous conclusions as to the protodiabetic disturbances in carbohydrate metabolism accompanied by insulin enhancement after glucose and diminished glucose- and increased lipogenetic effects, which had been demonstrated by R. BAUMANN et al. in 58% of all studied cases of juvenile human hypertension (Stage I and Stage II, NITSCHKOFF and R. BAUMANN), in which possibly hereditary factors may be involved.