Acetyl-salicylic acid impairs insulin-mediated glucose utilization and reduces insulin clearance in healthy and non-insulin-dependent diabetic man.

The effect of acetyl-salicylic acid (ASA, 3 g per day for 3 days) on glucose utilization and insulin secretion was studied in healthy volunteers and Type 2 diabetic patients using the hyperglycaemic and euglycaemic insulin clamp technique. When in healthy subjects arterial plasma glucose was acutely raised and maintained at +7 mmol/l above fasting level, the plasma insulin response was enhanced by ASA (70 +/- 7 vs. 52 +/- 7 mU/l), whereas the plasma C-peptide response was identical. Despite higher insulin concentrations, glucose utilization was not significantly altered (control, 61 +/- 7; ASA, 65 +/- 6 mumol X kg-1 X min-1) indicating impairment of tissue sensitivity to insulin by ASA. Inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis was not likely to be involved in the effect of ASA, since insulin response and glucose utilization were unchanged following treatment with indomethacin. In the euglycaemic insulin (1 mU X kg-1 X min-1) clamp studies, glucose utilization was unaltered by ASA despite higher insulin concentrations achieved during constant insulin infusion (103 +/- 4 vs. 89 +/- 4 mU/l). In Type 2 diabetic patients, fasting hyperglycaemia (10.6 +/- 1.1 mmol/l) and hepatic glucose production (15 +/- 2 mumol X kg-1 X min-1) fell upon ASA treatment (8.6 +/- 0.7 mmol/l; 13 +/- 1 mumol X kg-1 X min-1). During the hyperglycaemic clamp study, the plasma response of insulin, but not of C-peptide, was enhanced by ASA, whereas tissue sensitivity to insulin was reduced by 30 percent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)