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Increased skeletal muscle Na/K‐ratio in obese men, but not in women, with glucose intolerance
Author(s) -
LANDIN K.,
LINDGÄRDE F.,
SALTIN B.,
WILHELMSEN L.
Publication year - 1989
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 - 10.1111/j.1365-2796.1989.tb00045.x
Subject(s) - medicine , endocrinology , skeletal muscle , insulin resistance , obesity , insulin , type 2 diabetes , diabetes mellitus
. Obesity is associated with glucose intolerance. Glucose is to a large extent disposed in the skeletal muscle. Peripheral insulin resistance, as well as decreased enzymatic activity in the skeletal muscle, has been suggested in type II diabetes. Potassium is essential for such enzymatic reactions. In this study, obese men, but not women, with glucose intolerance tended to have a lower total body potassium per kg body weight, indicating a smaller muscle mass, than weight‐matched normoglycaemic men. They also had a lower skeletal muscle potassium content per 100 g dry weight ( P < 0.05) and a higher muscle Na/K‐ratio ( P < 0.05) compared with obese men with normal glucose tolerance. Muscle fat and muscle sodium content were higher in obese men than in women with the same body mass index ( P < 0.01). The muscle electrolyte changes can be explained by a decrease in the insulin mediated Na/K‐pump activity across the cell membrane or a smaller number of insulin receptors on the skeletal muscle cell in patients with glucose intolerance.