Hyperinsulinemia produces both sympathetic neural activation and vasodilation in normal humans

Hyperinsulinemia may contribute to hypertension by increasing sympathetic activity and vascular resistance. We sought to determine if insulin increases central sympathetic neural outflow and vascular resistance in humans. We recorded muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA; microneurography, peroneal nerve), forearm blood flow (plethysmography), heart rate, and blood pressure in 14 normotensive males during 1-h infusions of low (38 mU/m2/min) and high (76 mU/m2/min) doses of insulin while holding blood glucose constant. Plasma insulin rose from 8 +/- 1 microU/ml during control, to 72 +/- 8 and 144 +/- 13 microU/ml during the low and high insulin doses, respectively, and fell to 15 +/- 6 microU/ml 1 h after insulin infusion was stopped. MSNA, which averaged 21.5 +/- 1.5 bursts/min in control, increased significantly (P less than 0.001) during both the low and high doses of insulin (+/- 5.4 and +/- 9.3 bursts/min, respectively) and further increased during 1-h recovery (+15.2 bursts/min). Plasma norepinephrine levels (119 +/- 19 pg/ml during control) rose during both low (258 +/- 25; P less than 0.02) and high (285 +/- 95; P less than 0.01) doses of insulin and recovery (316 +/- 23; P less than 0.01). Plasma epinephrine levels did not change during insulin infusion. Despite the increased MSNA and plasma norepinephrine, there were significant (P less than 0.001) increases in forearm blood flow and decreases in forearm vascular resistance during both doses of insulin. Systolic pressure did not change significantly during infusion of insulin and diastolic pressure fell approximately 4-5 mmHg (P less than 0.01). This study suggests that acute increases in plasma insulin within the physiological range elevate sympathetic neural outflow but produce forearm vasodilation and do not elevate arterial pressure in normal humans.