Insulin sensitivity with respect to glucose metabolism in hypertension-prone men did not predict the blood pressure increase in 5 years.

Objectives: To evaluate peripheral insulin stimulated glucose uptake as a predictor for increase in blood pressure in hypertension-prone men.

Design: A follow-up study 5 years after a primary investigation that included an euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp to evaluate insulin sensitivity.

Subjects: Thirty-two men with a family history of hypertension (relatives) and 22 men with no hypertension in the family (controls). All were normotensive and had a normal glucose tolerance.

Main Outcome Measures: Change in blood pressure over 5 years and its relation to the values obtained in the basal investigation.

Results: Systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased in both groups during the 5 years, but diastolic blood pressure increased more in relatives than in controls (11 mm Hg vs 5 mm Hg, P = 0.03). The change in diastolic blood pressure was correlated to basal BMI (r = 0.43, P = 0.02) only in controls. There were no correlations between the change in blood pressure during the 5 years and basal glucose disposal nor to any of the other basal parameters in either relatives or controls.

Conclusions: Insulin sensitivity did not predict the change in blood pressure during the 5 years either in hypertension-prone men or in controls, nor did anthropometrical measurements, basal and stimulated insulin and maximal oxygen uptake. The blood pressure increase was related to basal BMI only in controls.