Carotid wall thickening, left ventricular hypertrophy, and insulin resistance in patients with hypertension

BACKGROUND: Insulin resistance was associated with hypertension and coronary artery disease, and might play a role in the development of carotid atherosclerosis and cardiac hypertrophy. METHODS: The relationship of insulin resistance, estimated by steady-state plasma glucose (SSPG) with the B-mode ultrasound-measured carotid intima-medial thickness (IMT) and the M-mode echocardiographically determined left ventricular mass (LVM), was examined in 82 Chinese patients with hypertension. RESULTS: Insulin-resistant patients with obesity, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, and hypofibrinolysis show no significantly greater LVM index and carotid IMT than nonresistant individuals. Patients with either left ventricular hypertrophy or carotid wall thickening did not present significantly higher SSPG than those without these abnormalities. Neither carotid IMT nor LVM was associated with SSPG on multiple regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggested that insulin resistance was not an important contributor for carotid thickening and cardiac hypertrophy in Chinese patients with hypertension.