RELATION OF GLUCOSE-INTOLERANCE AND INSULIN-RESISTANCE TO SALT-SENSITIVITY IN NON OBESE HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Recent studies suggest that the recognized heterogeneity in the blood pressure response to changes in sodium intake could be related, among other factors, to the circulating insulin levels and/or the peripheral sensitivity to the metabolic action of insulin. This is a very import ant issue inasmuch as insulin resistance and salt sensitivity of blood pressure are common antecedents of type 2 diabetes mellitus and arter ial hypertension, respectively. There is, however, an ongoing controve rsy about the true statistical and biological significance of this ass ociation because not all studies have been able to detect it and anywa y different mechanistic interpretations have been proposed. These disc repancies may at least in part be due to the influence of factors such as - race, overweight, glucose intolerance, family history of hyperte nsion, inclusion of both normotensive and hypertensive patients in the same study population and so on - that may have confounded the relati onship in one or the other direction. Purpose of this paper is to shor tly review this subject and to give a brief account of the hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the above mentioned relationship. ( C) 1997, Medikal Press.