Objective: To investigate the plasma insulin levels and insulin sensitivity in the offspring of parents with family hypertensive history in Tibetan population.
Methods: Tibetan hypertensive pedigrees and normotensive pedigrees based on a door-to-door cross section study performed from 1997 to 1998 in stable communities in the ruban district of Lhasa city were set up, 47 offsprings from hypertensive pedigrees (group I) and 21 offsprings from normotensive pedigrees (group II) were enrolled into this study. Plasma insulin levels using by radioimmunoassay and insulin sensitivity with the formulae insulin sensitivity = 1/(fasting plasma glucose x fasting plasma insulin) were compared between two groups.
Results: There were no statistically significant differences in fasting blood glucose levels between group I and group II. But fasting plasma insulin level was 10.20 +/- 6.95 m IU/L in group I and 6.56 +/- 2.81 m IU/L in group II, respectively, and there were statistically significant differences between these two groups. The insulin sensitivity index in group I was significantly lower than that in group II (0.036 +/- 0.024 and 0.046 +/- 0.022, respectively).
Conclusion: Offspring of Tibetan hypertensive pedigrees were observed to be hyperinsulinemia and reduced insulin sensitivity. These metabolic abnormalities may be associated with hypertension and dyslipidemia in adulthood.