Essential hypertension and insulin resistance in non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

A recent study has shown that young, lean, hypertensive subjects are more insulin resistant than corresponding normotensive subjects. Whether this finding can also be demonstrated in the presence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is not known. Therefore, the degree of insulin resistance was studied in 26 middle-aged hypertensive patients with NIDDM (11 men, 15 women) and 14 normotensive patients with NIDDM (eight men, six women) matched for age, metabolic control and the duration of diabetes, utilizing the glucose clamp technique. Non-obese NIDD patients (body mass index less than 27.0 kg m-2) with hypertension (n = 11) had significantly lower glucose disposal rates (GDRs) during the last 60 min of euglycaemic (5.5 mmol l-1) and hyperinsulinaemic (approximately 600 pmol l-1) clamp studies than NIDD patients without hypertension (n = 6) (782 +/- 94 vs. 1418 +/- 97 mumol m-2 min-1, P less than 0.05). In contrast, GDRs were similar in obese NIDD patients with (n = 15) and without (n = 8) hypertension (802 +/- 90 vs. 849 +/- 90 mumol m-2/min-1, respectively, P = NS). Basal hepatic glucose output, suppression of hepatic glucose production during hyperinsulinaemia and insulin secretion capacity did not differ between hypertensive and normotensive subjects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)