Pressor doses of angiotensin II increase hepatic glucose output and decrease insulin sensitivity in rats

The metabolic effects of angiotensin II (AII) were studied under steady-state conditions of euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemia in anaesthetized rats. Pressor doses of AII (50 and 400 ng/kg per min) had dose-dependent hypertensive and hyperglycaemic effects during glucose clamp studies. Glucose turnover measurements showed that hepatic glucose output (HGO) increased equally at both pressor doses compared with either saline infusion or AII infusion at a dose without a pressor effect (20 ng/kg per min); however, glucose disposal increased significantly only at 50 ng/kg per min. Infusion of the AII receptor antagonist, saralasin, did not itself alter glucose output or disposal significantly, but it abolished the effects of a simultaneous infusion of AII. It is concluded that pressor doses of AII increase HGO by a receptor-mediated mechanism that is not related to the pressor response to the hormone. The hyperglycaemic reaction to this metabolic effect of AII is partially offset by increased glucose disposal at lower doses. The physiological significance of these metabolic actions of AII remains to be established, but they raise the possibility that AII could potentially play a role in glucose homeostasis in vivo.