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Published in: Clinical Autonomic Research 2/2014

01-04-2014 | Research Article

Relationship of muscle sympathetic nerve activity to insulin sensitivity

Authors: Timothy B. Curry, Casey N. Hines, Jill N. Barnes, Madhuri Somaraju, Rita Basu, John M. Miles, Michael J. Joyner, Nisha Charkoudian

Published in: Clinical Autonomic Research | Issue 2/2014

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Abstract

Purpose

An association between insulin resistance and activation of the sympathetic nervous system has been reported in previous studies. However, potential interactions between insulin sensitivity and sympathetic neural mechanisms in healthy people remain poorly understood. We conducted a study to determine the relationship between sympathetic activity and insulin resistance in young, healthy humans.

Methods

Thirty-seven healthy adults (18–35 years, BMI <28 kg m−2) were studied. Resting muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) was measured with microneurography and insulin sensitivity of glucose and free fatty acid metabolism was measured during a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp with two levels of insulin.

Results

During lower doses of insulin, we found a small association between lower insulin sensitivity and higher MSNA (P < 0.05) but age was a cofactor in this relationship. Overall, we found no difference in insulin sensitivity between groups of low and high MSNA, but when women were analyzed separately, insulin sensitivity was lower in the high MSNA group compared with the low MSNA group of women.

Conclusions

These data suggest that MSNA and insulin sensitivity are only weakly associated with young healthy individuals and that age and sex may be important modifiers of this relationship.
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Metadata
Title
Relationship of muscle sympathetic nerve activity to insulin sensitivity
Authors
Timothy B. Curry
Casey N. Hines
Jill N. Barnes
Madhuri Somaraju
Rita Basu
John M. Miles
Michael J. Joyner
Nisha Charkoudian
Publication date
01-04-2014
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Clinical Autonomic Research / Issue 2/2014
Print ISSN: 0959-9851
Electronic ISSN: 1619-1560
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-014-0235-0

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