Diabetes Care, Vol 21, Issue 10 1743-1748, Copyright © 1998 by American Diabetes Association
Differential glucose tolerance in dipper and nondipper essential hypertension: the implications of circadian blood pressure regulation on glucose tolerance in hypertension
JW Chen, SL Jen, WL Lee, NW Hsu, SJ Lin, CT Ting, MS Chang and PH Wang
Department of Medicine, Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
OBJECTIVE: The goals of this study were to compare glucose tolerance in
dipper and nondipper hypertensive patients and to explore the cause of
glucose intolerance in essential hypertension. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS:
A total of 50 patients <45 years old who had essential hypertension were
recruited and studied by 24-h blood pressure monitoring and an oral glucose
tolerance test (OGTT). Autonomic function was assessed with spectral
analysis of heart rate variability RESULTS: Dipper hypertensive patients
(n=25) had lower nocturnal blood pressure than nondipper (n=25) patients.
During OGTT, postprandial glucose levels were higher in the nondippers at
0, 90, and 120 min (all P < 0.05). Nondippers had a higher fasting
insulin/glucose ratio than was apparent in normal control subjects. Despite
higher postprandial glucose levels, nondippers had lower postprandial
insulin levels. These results suggest that nondippers were insulin
resistant and that their pancreatic beta-cell function was impaired. For
all patients, nocturnal reduction of blood pressure was inversely related
to total glucose levels under the OGTT curve and was positively related to
postprandial insulin levels. Daytime heart rate did not differ between the
dippers and nondippers, but nocturnal heart rate was higher in the
nondippers, suggesting that nocturnal sympathetic activities were higher
among the nondippers. Spectral analysis of heart rate variability suggests
that the nondippers had lower parasympathetic activities and unbalanced
sympathetic/parasympathetic outflow. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate
that nondipper hypertensive patients are more glucose intolerant than are
dipper patients. The abnormalities of glucose metabolism in nondippers
could be explained by insulin resistance and beta-cell dysfunction. The
results of spectral analysis suggest that abnormal autonomic outflow may
represent a possible link between hypertension and associated metabolic
dysfunction.