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Relationship of muscle sympathetic nerve activity to insulin sensitivity

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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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Acknowledgments

Special thanks to D. Schroder of Mayo Clinic Biomedical Statistics and Informatics for support in designing studies and statistical analysis. We also thank S. Roberts, S. Wolhart, K. Edens, C. Johnson, L. Matzek, J. Taylor, B. Walker, P. Engrav, N. Meyer, and D. Vlazny of Mayo Clinic for their assistance in conducting the studies. The project was supported by the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research and NIH Grant Numbers ULRR24150, UL1TR000135, R01DK50456, K23DK82424, T32AR056950, F32AG 38067, R01DK90541, R01HL67933, R01HL83947. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of Mayo Foundation or the NIH.

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Author notes

  1. Nisha Charkoudian

    Present address: Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division, US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Kansas Street, Bldg 42, Natick, MA, 01760-5007, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Timothy B. Curry, Casey N. Hines, Jill N. Barnes, Madhuri Somaraju & Michael J. Joyner

  2. Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Timothy B. Curry, Jill N. Barnes & Michael J. Joyner

  3. Division of Endocrinology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Rita Basu & John M. Miles

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  1. Timothy B. Curry
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Correspondence to Timothy B. Curry.

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Curry, T.B., Hines, C.N., Barnes, J.N. et al. Relationship of muscle sympathetic nerve activity to insulin sensitivity. Clin Auton Res 24, 77–85 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-014-0235-0

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