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Association Of Insulin Actions With Blood Pressure In Rodent Models Of Obesity And Diabetes, Margaret Ann Maher Abel

Doctoral Dissertations

Obesity, insulin resistance and hypertension are risk factors for cardiovascular disease which occur in association more than individually in the general population; this clustering of symptoms is called Syndrome X. The association between hypertension and insulin resistance in this syndrome has traditionally been attributed to the effect of increased circulating insulin on sympathetic nerve activity and renal sodium retention. However, it has been shown that insulin exerts a direct vasodilatory action on the vasculature, which may be impaired in insulin resistant states. Studies in our laboratory have revealed that this vasodilatory effect is, in part, due to insulin stimulation of …