Angiotensin II affects basal, pulsatile, and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in humans

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Angiotensin II in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Frequent blood samples (each minute) were obtained for estimation of plasma insulin concentrations over a period of 120 minutes to assess basal and pulsatile insulin secretion.

Why It Was Studied

Angiotensin II (Ang II) modulates the tissue response to insulin (insulin sensitivity), but the effect of Ang II on the secretion of insulin has not been investigated thus far.

Insulin secretion pulses were analyzed with the deconvolution technique, and the regularity of insulin secretion was analyzed with the approximate entropy technique.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 12 volunteers taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, men only.

In an ancillary study, plasma glucose and insulin levels were measured after an oral glucose tolerance test while solvent (placebo) or Ang II was infused in 12 fasting healthy volunteers.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

The volunteers were allocated by chance, so the Angiotensin II group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Neither the volunteers nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Angiotensin II, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Angiotensin II could be set against what happens without it.

Plasma insulin concentrations were measured immunoenzymatically (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay).

Plasma insulin half-life was assessed using the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp method.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Angiotensin II, Glucose, Glucose Tolerance Test, Insulin and Pulsatile Flow.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Angiotensin II in 12 volunteers.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 1997 (Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979)), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Angiotensin II compound page, all human trials.