Insulinaemia and slight overweight: the case of Vietnamese hypertensives.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the relationship between hypertension, overweight and indices of insulin resistance in Vietnamese subjects.

PATIENTS

One hundred and eight hypertensive subjects (51 men and 57 women) over 40 y of age were compared with 36 control subjects over 40 y of age.

METHODS

Blood glucose and plasma insulin were measured at fasting and 2 h after 75 g glucose taken orally.

RESULTS

Hypertensive subjects had significantly higher body mass index (BMI), triceps skinfold, waist and hip circumferences and waist/hip ratio. Glycaemia at fasting and after glucose were similar in the two groups. Insulinaemia at fasting and after glucose were significantly higher in the hypertensive subjects. In the whole series of hypertensive subjects, plasma insulin and insulin/glucose ratio at fasting and after glucose correlated significantly with BMI, triceps skinfold and waist and hip cicumferences. After exclusion of the subjects with BMI > 22 kg/m2, compared with the controls, plasma insulin and insulin/glucose ratio were significantly higher in the whole hypertensive group and separately in hypertensive men and women. The logistic regression analyses have shown that plasma insulin and insulin/glucose ratio at fasting and after glucose were significantly associated with hypertension, independently of gender, BMI and waist circumference.

CONCLUSION

This study shows that in Vietnamese people, essential hypertension is associated with a significant increase in BMI, which however remains far lower than the definition threshold of occidental obesity and with a state of insulin resistance found despite very slight or no excess weight.