Incorporation of the fasting free fatty acid concentration into quantitative insulin sensitivity check index improves its association with insulin sensitivity in adults, but not in children.

Objective: Based on fasting insulin and glucose, several indices of insulin sensitivity have been developed in adults. Recently, it has been demonstrated that incorporation of the fasting free fatty acid (FFA) concentration improves the association with insulin sensitivity in adults. We investigated the association of clamp-derived insulin sensitivity with indices of insulin sensitivity derived from fasting blood in prepubertal children and adults, with and without incorporation of FFAs.

Urinary cortisol is inversely associated with capillary recruitment in women: a potential explanation for the cortisol-blood pressure relationship.

The relationships of cortisol with elevated blood pressure and insulin resistance are likely to be the result of a complex interplay of different mechanisms. We hypothesize that cortisol is associated with impaired microvascular function and that this contributes to cortisol-associated high blood pressure and insulin resistance. We examined 24 h urinary free cortisol excretion in 56 healthy adults (26 women).

Visceral and truncal subcutaneous adipose tissue are associated with impaired capillary recruitment in healthy individuals.

Context: Central adiposity is associated with cardiovascular risk independently of total adiposity. Microvascular dysfunction is thought to contribute to obesity-associated insulin resistance and hypertension and may thus link central adiposity with cardiovascular risk.

Objective: Our objective was to investigate how body fat distribution relates to microvascular function and the role of adipocytokines in these relationships.

TNF-alpha levels are associated with skin capillary recruitment in humans: a potential explanation for the relationship between TNF-alpha and insulin resistance.

The mechanism by which TNF-alpha (tumour necrosis factor-alpha) may cause insulin resistance is not clear. On the basis of experiments in rats, TNF-alpha has been suggested to cause defects in capillary function, with a decreased access of insulin and glucose to tissues. To test this hypothesis in humans, we assessed serum TNF-alpha concentrations, skin capillary recruitment and insulin sensitivity in a group of 37 healthy adults.

The association between birth weight and capillary recruitment is independent of blood pressure and insulin sensitivity: a study in prepubertal children.

Objective: Alterations in microvascular function have been hypothesized as a possible mechanism explaining the negative association of weight at birth with blood pressure and insulin resistance in adult life. However, these variables are closely associated, so that it has been difficult to establish whether microvascular dysfunction is a cause or a consequence of increased blood pressure or insulin resistance.

Design: Cohort study.