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Insulin resistance and intima–media thickness in the carotid and femoral arteries of clinically healthy 58‐year‐old men. The Atherosclerosis and Insulin Resistance Study (AIR)
Author(s) -
Bokemark L.,
Wikstrand J.,
Attvall S.,
Hulthe J.,
Wedel H.,
Fagerberg B.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.625
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1365-2796
pISSN - 0954-6820
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2796.2001.00735.x
Subject(s) - medicine , insulin resistance , blood pressure , body mass index , cardiology , insulin , endocrinology , population , pulse pressure , diabetes mellitus , obesity , environmental health
. Bokemark L, Wikstrand J, Attvall S, Hulthe J, Wedel H, Fagerberg B (Sahlgrenska University Hospital, and the Nordic School of Public Health, Göteborg, Sweden). Insulin resistance and intima–media thickness in the carotid and femoral arteries of clinically healthy 58‐year‐old men. The Atherosclerosis and Insulin Resistance Study (AIR). J Intern Med 2001; 249: 59–67. Objective. To examine whether insulin resistance was associated with ultrasound‐assessed measures of atherosclerosis in men with varying degrees of obesity. Design. A random selection of subjects from the general population were divided into quintiles of a body mass index/blood glucose score that was shown to be a valid and reproducible index of the degree of insulin sensitivity as assessed by the clamp technique. Every fourth man in quintiles 1 and 5 and every 20th man in quintiles 2–4 (in total, 104 men) were selected for an ultrasound examination of the carotid and femoral arteries and a euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp examination, adjusted for fat‐free mass. Setting. A university hospital. Subjects. A total of 104 clinically healthy 58‐year‐old men of Swedish ancestry. Results. The mean common carotid artery intima–media thickness (IMT), but not the common femoral IMT, correlated significantly with glucose infusion rate (GIR) ( r = − 0.20, P < 0.05) , systolic blood pressure ( r = 0.20, P < 0.05), pulse pressure ( r = 0.23 P < 0.01), heart rate ( r = 0.20, P < 0.05), HDL cholesterol ( r = − 0.18, P < 0.05), log triglycerides ( r = 0.28, P < 0.01), apoA 1 ( r = − 0.20, P < 0.05), apoB ( r = 0.21, P < 0.05), LDL particle size ( r = − 0.22, P < 0.05) and plasma insulin ( r = 0.20, P < 0.05). In a multiple regression, common carotid IMT was independently associated with log triglycerides (β = 0.25, P = 0.012) and pulse pressure (β = 0.21, P = 0.031) ( R 2 = 8.7%, P = 0.005) Conclusions. Insulin sensitivity, measured with the gold standard euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp method, showed similar associations with ultrasound‐assessed measures of atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries as established cardiovascular risk factors, but only triglycerides and pulse pressure contributed independently to the variability in the common carotid intima–media thickness.