Somatostatin inhibition of fructose-induced hypertension

Abstract

The role of insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia in the etiology of fructose-induced hypertension was studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats consumed a fructose-enriched diet (containing 66% of total calories as fructose) for 11 days and were infused continuously during the last 7 days with either a somatostatin analogue or vehicle. At the end of this period, rats receiving the somatostatin analogue had a lower plasma insulin concentration (52 ± 4 vs. 70 ± 6 μunits/ml, p < 0.01) and a lower blood pressure (133 ± 2 vs. 150 ± 2 mm Hg) than did the rats infused with the control solution. In addition, the increase in plasma triglyceride concentration in response to the fructose-enriched diet was significantly attenuated (p < 0.001) in the rats infused with somatostatin. These data provide further support that the increase in blood pressure that occurs when normal rats are fed a high fructose diet is dependent on the ability of this intervention to cause insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia.