Insulin sensitivity is related to physical fitness and exercise blood pressure to structural vascular properties in young men

Insulin resistance is related to physical inactivity, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and death. Moreover, blood pressure responses during the first 6 minutes of an exercise test (600 kilo/pound/meter [kpm] per min) are more predictive for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality than blood pressure at rest, which could reflect that exercise blood pressure correlates more closely to peripheral structural vascular changes than casual blood pressure. We have recently shown a correlation between insulin resistance and minimal forearm vascular resistance (MFVR) in young men recruited from the highest blood pressure percentiles during a military draft session. In the present study, we tested the hypotheses that insulin sensitivity relates to physical fitness and that blood pressure responses during an exercise test relate to peripheral structural vascular changes in these men; we also tested whether these findings were interrelated. We assessed insulin sensitivity and physical fitness in 27 young men randomly selected from the cohort having a blood pressure of 140/90 mm Hg or higher during the compulsory military draft session in Oslo. Insulin sensitivity correlated with physical fitness (r=0.58, P=0.002). Systolic blood pressure after 6 minutes of exercise (600 kpm/min) correlated with MFVR (r=0.46, P=0.015). MFVR and physical fitness independently explained 60% of the variation in insulin sensitivity, and MFVR independently explained 19% of the variation of systolic blood pressure after 6 minutes of exercise. In conclusion, insulin sensitivity is related to physical fitness and exercise blood pressure to structural vascular properties in these young men.