NDT Advance Access originally published online on June 30, 2007
Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation 2007 22(11):3102-3107; doi:10.1093/ndt/gfm409
© The Author [2007]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Insulin resistance and salt-sensitive hypertension in metabolic syndrome
Toshiro Fujita
Department of Nephrology and Endocrinology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Correspondence and offprint requests to: Toshiro Fujita, MD, Department of Nephrology and Endocrinology, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan. Email: fujita-dis{at}h.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Keywords: adipocyte; chronic kidney disease; insulin resistance; obesity; oxidative stress; potassium; renin–angiotensin–aldosterone; sodium
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Introduction
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Metabolic syndrome, which is caused by obesity, is now a global
pandemic. Metabolic syndrome is an aggregation of dyslipidaemia,
hypertension and diabetes. Moreover, metabolic syndrome is a
highly predisposing condition for cardiovascular disease. Recent
clinical studies have shown that metabolic syndrome also increases
the risk for proteinuria and chronic kidney disease (CKD) [
1].
For a definition of metabolic syndrome, indeed, visceral obesity
is essential and more than two of the following components:
blood pressure, glucose and lipid abnormalities. However, insulin
resistance is a key factor to developing these components of
metabolic syndrome. Based on recent progress of research on
adipocytes, visceral obesity plays a critical role in the development
of insulin resistance. Indeed, angiotensionogen, one of adipokines
such as TNF-

and NEFA, which are produced by visceral fat, might
contribute to the development of insulin resistance in the muscle
and adipose tissues [
2]. In contrast, lack of insulin resistance
in the kidney increases tubular sodium reabsorption by hyperinsulinaemia,
leading to sodium retention in the body, and resultant salt-sensitive
hypertension [
3]. Therefore, there is an intimate relationship
between insulin resistance and salt-sensitive hypertension in
obese hypertensive patients with metabolic syndrome [
4–7].
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Insulin resistance in metabolic syndrome
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Insulin resistance is a key factor to developing these components
of metabolic syndrome. Indeed, insulin resistance is a good
predictor of metabolic syndrome. Hypertensive patients often
exhibit insulin resistance; in the glucose tolerance test, hypertensives
have been reported to show a greater degree of hyperinsulinaemia
as compared with normotensives [
8]. According to assessment
by computed tomograpy, hypertensives show a higher visceral
fat area than normotensives, although the subcutaneous fat area
is comparable between the two groups. Moreover, while the visceral
fat area was negatively correlated with the insulin sensitivity
as measured by insulin-induced glucose uptake, the subcutaneous
fat area was not [
9]. This led us to hypothesize that visceral
adiposity may play a key role in the development of insulin
resistance. In support of this contention, weight reduction
by bariatric surgery has been shown to improve insulin resistance
in severely obese patients, apparently associated with the reduction
of the visceral fat area [
10]. In contrast, moderate reduction
of subcutaneous fat by liposuction neither decreased the visceral
fat area nor improved the insulin resistance in obese patients
[
11]. Therefore, it suggests that visceral fat, rather than
subcutaneous fat, is involved in insulin resistance.
There is a growing body of evidence indicating that adipocytes produce several cytokines, the so-called adipokines, such as leptin, TNF-
, NEFAs, adiponection, resistin and angiotensinogen, which can influence insulin sensitivity. According to the contribution of visceral fat to insulin resistance, a recent study revealed that mice fed with a high-fat diet showed up-regulation of the angiotensinogen gene expression in the visceral fat but not subcutaneous fat [2]. In obese humans, the levels of the circulating components of the RA system are elevated, however, weight loss is associated with a decrease in the levels of these components of the RA system [12]. Therefore, the adipocyte-related RA system may play an important role in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome.
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Angiotensin and insulin resistance
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Angiotensin II (Ang II), which is generated from angiotensinogen,
is well known to be a key substance influencing endothelial
function and involved in the development of cardiovascular disease,
through the activation of NADPH oxidase. Moreover, Ang II is
also involved in the development of insulin resistance, possibly
by oxidative stress production. To evaluate the mechanism of
Ang II-induced insulin resistance, we studied the effect of
a 2-week infusion of Ang II on the insulin sensitivity in rats
using the hyperinsulinaemic–euglycaemic glucose clamp
method. Both the glucose infusion rate and the insulin-induced
glucose uptake into the muscle were found to be markedly decreased
[
13]. Thus, chronic administration of Ang II caused insulin
resistance in the muscle and adipose tissues. In the Ang II-infused
rats, the plasma level of lipid peroxide, a marker of oxidative
stress, was also increased. Moreover, treatment with tempol,
a membrane-permeable superoxide dismutase mimetic, reversed
the Ang II-induced decrement in the glucose infusion rate in
the evaluation using the hyperinsulinaemic–euglycaemic
glucose clamp, and increased the glucose uptake in isolated
skeletal muscle [
13]. Thus, oxidative stress may play an important
role in Ang II-induced insulin resistance. Indeed, it has been
reported that Ang II-induced ROS up-regulation affects several
levels of the intracellular insulin signalling pathways.
In vitro, ROS has been shown to impair IRS-1 phoshorylation and
IRS-1-induced PI3-kinase activation in cultured adipocytes,
leading to impaired translocation of GLUT-4 to the membrane
and consequently, insulin resistance [
14]. Accordingly, treatment
with blockers of RA system may improve insulin resistance, possibly
through the inhibition of oxidative stress.
In addition to producing several other adipokines besides angiotensinogen that also have the potential to decrease insulin sensitivity, such as TNF-
, resistin, leptin and NEFAs [15], adipocytes also secrete adiponectin and adrenomedullin (AM) which increase insulin sensitivity (Figure 1). In contrast to Ang II, AM inhibits the generation of ROS [16]. Infusion of Ang II has been shown to induce more severe insulin resistance in AM-deficient mice than in wild-type mice [17], suggesting antagonistic effects between endogenous AM and Ang II. Moreover, old, but not young, AM-deficient mice show insulin resistance in the muscle, possibly through overproduction of ROS [18], since oxidative stress might accumulate with advancing age. Lending support to this idea, treatment with tempol, an antioxidant, normalized the impaired glucose uptake by the muscle in both Ang II-infused rats [16] and old AM-deficient mice [18]. In AM-deficient mice, moreover, the administration of Ang II [16], hypoxia [19] and arterial cuff injury [20], all of which produce oxidative stress, was found to induce severe coronary arterial sclerosis, pulmonary arterial hyperplasia and arterial intimal hyperplasia, respectively. Taken together, in obese subjects with metabolic syndrome, imbalance in the production of several adipokines influencing insulin sensitivity may be involved in the development of insulin resistance, possibly through the overproduction of oxidative stress (Figure 1).
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The mechanism for salt-sensitive hypertension in metabolic syndrome
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There is a plausible hypothesis that insulin resistance plays
a crucial role in the development of hypertension, diabetes
and dyslipidaemia. Although the precise mechanism for insulin
resistance-induced hypertension is still unknown, it has been
hypothesized that while insulin resistance is observed in the
muscle and adipose tissues, it is not seen in the kidney or
the sympathetic nervous system. Under this circumstance, since
insulin can increase sodium reabsorption in the proximal tubules
and stimulate sympathetic tone, hyperinsulinaemia increases
the blood pressure by inducing salt retention and central sympathetic
overactivity. This hypothesis is strengthened by our recent
ex vivo study [
3] using the proximal tubules of IRS-1- and IRS-2-
deficient mice, in which while both mice showed insulin resistance
and the resultant hyperinsulinaemia, only the former showed
hypertension. Administration of insulin probably increased the
sodium reabsorption in the proximal tubules of the IRS-1 deficient
mice, similar to that in the wild-type mice, by the activation
of

co-transport, but not
in the proximal tubules of the IRS-2 deficient mice [
3], suggesting
that the renal action of insulin is mediated by IRS-2. Consequently,
IRS-1- deficient mice showed higher blood pressure than IRS-2
deficient mice, possibly mediated by the greater sodium retention
in the body. Thus, insulin resistance in the muscle, which is
attributable to derangements of IRS-1, induces glucose intolerance
and dyslipidaemia; in turn, hyperinsulinaemia induces sodium
retention via IRS-2 phosphorylation in the kidney, resulting
in volume-dependent, salt-sensitive hypertension (
Figure 2).
Lending support to this concept, the Olivetti Heart Study showed,
using the lithium clearance method, that obese insulin-resistant
subjects with metabolic syndrome showed a higher fractional
sodium reabsorption in the proximal tubules [
21].
In addition to hyperinsulinaemia, Ang II [
22], which is generated
from angiotensinogen produced by adipocytes, aldosterone, of
which secretion is also stimulated by adipocytes [
23], and the
increased renal SNS activity [
24], which is mediated by hyperinsulinaemia
and hyperleptinaemia, can directly stimulate sodium reabsorption
in the proximal and distal tubules (
Figure 3). Furthermore,
compression of the kidney by the huge abdominal fat mass might
also influence tubular sodium reabsorption; the elevated interstitial
hydrostatic pressure caused by compression could reduce medullary
blood flow (vasa recta) and consequently increase sodium reabsorption
in the ascending limb of the loop of Henle [
25]. Taken together,
all of these abnormalities might be involved in promoting sodium
retention in the body (
Figure 3). In fact, obese hypertensives
show a more pronounced hypotensive response to salt restriction
than non-obese hypertensives, but after they reduce their body
weight, they also show a less pronounced salt-sensitivity of
the blood pressure. Thus, obese patients with metabolic syndrome
often have salt-sensitive hypertension [
26]. Conversely, salt-sensitive
hypertension is characterized by the same features as those
characterizing patients with metabolic syndrome, namely, obesity,
insulin resistance, low serum HDL cholesterol, microalbuminuria,
intraglomerular hypertension and high incidence of cardiovascular
diseases [
27,
28]. The association of metabolic syndrome and
salt-sensitive hypertension is thus not limited to obesity,
and as both are associated with an unfavourable cardiovascular
risk, there is also a considerable overlap of conditions that
increase the cardiovascular risk as well.
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CKD in metabolic syndrome
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Obese subjects with metabolic syndrome often exhibit microalbuminuria,
CKD and non-dipping hypertension [
1,
29,
30], which are all independent
risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The appearance of microalbuminuria
might be attributable to glomerular hyperfiltration [
31]. According
to the reported mechanism of occurence of intraglomerular hypertension,
increased tubular sodium reabsorption in the proximal tubules
and loop of Henle reduces the macula densa NaCl delivery [
32],
which leads to a feedback-mediated vasodilatation of the afferent
arterioles, elevation of the glomerular filtration rate and
stimulation of the RA system, despite the volume expansion (
Figure 3).
These compensatory responses are aimed at overcoming the increased
tubular reabsorption and maintaining the sodium balance [
25].
However, persistent glomerular hyperfiltration also causes proteinuria
and CKD.
In addition to the renal haemodynamics, adipocyte-related humoral factors may also be involved in the occurrence of albuminuria and CKD. Some investigators have demonstrated that aldosterone-releasing factors are produced by adipocytes [23]. Consistent with this, plasma aldosterone concentrations are increased in obese subjects with metabolic syndrome [33]. Hyperaldosternism induces sodium retention in the body by the increased sodium reabsorption in the distal and collecting tubules, resulting in salt-sensitive hypertension. Moreover, we have recently showed that mineralcorticoid receptor (MR) is present not only in the tubular cells but also glomerular podocytes; the hyperaldosteronism-induced MR activation might induce glomerular podocyte injury to cause proteinuria in obese hypertensive rats with metabolic syndrome, possibly through the overproduction of ROS [34]. Moreover, salt loading aggravates podocyte injury and proteinuria markedly in these obese hypertensive rats, associated with increased MR-dependent gene expressions. It is well known that salt and aldosterone have an unfavourable synergistic action on the cardiovascular system since the administration of aldosterone induces severe cardiac damages in rats on a high-salt diet, but does not affect it in those on a low-salt diet [35]. However, the treatment of eplerenone, a selective aldosterone receptor blocker, was shown to dramatically reduce the podocyte injury and proteinuria in obese hypertensive rats, even those on a high-salt diet [34,36,37]. Accordingly, PREVEND study shows that salt intake affects urinary albumin excretion especially in overweight subjects [38], although plasma aldosterone was not measured. Thus, changes in renal haemodynamics and humoral factors can induce progressive renal failure in metabolic syndrome. In turn, impaired renal function in relation to sodium excretion increases the salt-sensitivity of blood pressure (Figure 3).
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Role of salt and potassium in metabolic syndrome
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There is an intimate relationship between salt-sensitivity and
insulin sensitivity in hypertensive patients [
4–7]. Accordingly,
a high-salt diet not only increases the blood pressure, but
also decreases the insulin sensitivity in Dahl salt-sensitive
rats [
39]. However, treatment with tempol, an antioxidant, normalized
the salt-induced insulin resistance, suggesting that salt-induced
insulin resistance might be attributable to the overproduction
of ROS. Accordingly, the Finnish epidemiological study showed
that the prevalence of diabetes was higher among obese, but
not lean, people on a high-salt diet [
40]. In contrast to sodium,
potassium possesses antihypertensive [
41,
42] and anti-oxidant
effects [
39]. Potassium supplementation not only attenuated
salt-induced elevation of blood pressure [
41,
42], but also improved
salt-induced insulin resistance [
39] in salt-sensitive hypertensive
patients and animals, associated with the normalization of ROS
overproduction, suggesting that it inhibits salt-induced ROS
overproduction. Consistent with this, the DASH diet, consisting
of vegetables and fruits rich in potassium, which could lower
lipid-induced oxidative stress in obesity [
43], decreased not
only blood pressure, but also the fasting blood sugar in hypertensive
patients [
44]. Thus, dietary potassium can counteract the effects
of dietary sodium to increase the insulin sensitivity in patients
with salt-sensitive hypertension, possibly through decreasing
the production of reactive oxygen species (
Figure 1). Moreover,
in Dahl salt-sensitive rats, a high salt intake induced cardiac
diastolic dysfunction, because of increased ROS production in
the heart, but potassium supplementation could reverse this
abnormality through the inhibition of ROS production [
45]. Thus,
dietary salt and potassium stimulate and inhibit ROS production,
respectively (
Figure 1); in turn, overproduction of ROS might
induce not only insulin resistance, but also cardiac dysfunction
and atherosclerosis in salt-sensitive hypertensive humans and
animals. In support of this suggestion, potassium supplementation
could reduce the incidence of stroke in salt-loaded Dahl salt-sensitive
rats, independent of the blood pressure [
46]. Treatment with
antioxidants is also effective in inhibiting salt-induced cardiac
and renal damage in Dahl salt-sensitive hypertensive rats [
45,
47].
Taken together, ROS might play a critical role not only in the
development of insulin resistance and salt-sensitive hypertension,
but also in that of salt-induced cardiovascular damage in patients
of salt-sensitive hypertension with metabolic syndrome [
48].
Therefore, salt restriction and dietary intake of fruits and
vegetables rich in potassium should be prescribed as a first-line
lifestyle therapy for patients with metabolic syndrome, together
with physical exercise, with the goal of improving the obesity-associated
risk profile, such as insulin resistance and salt-sensitive
hypertension (
Figure 1).
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Conclusion
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Finally, it is evident that there are several endogenous and
exogenous factors that can influence insulin sensitivity. Not
only adipokines released from visceral fat but also salt from
processed foods can induce insulin resistance in the muscle
and adipose tissues, through the overproduction of oxidative
stress. Based upon the lack of insulin resistance in the kidney,
however, hyperinsulinaemia causes sodium retention by stimulating
sodium reabsorption in the proximal tubules. In addition, increased
Ang II, increased aldosterone and reduced medullary flow by
visceral fat-induced compression of the kidney might also be
involved in the increased sodium reabsorption in the proximal
and distal tubules, promoting sodium retention, and consequently,
inducing salt-sensitive hypertension (
Figure 3). Not only chronic
glomerular hypertension but also hyperaldosteronism might induce
proteinuria and CKD. Taken together, patients with metabolic
syndrome are often associated with salt-sensitive hypertension
and CKD. Therefore, salt restriction is important for obese
patients with metabolic syndrome to prevent CKD, since salt
restriction is effective in improving not only salt-sensitive
hypertension but also insulin resistance.
Conflict of interest statement. None declared.
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Received for publication: 19. 2.07
Accepted in revised form: 31. 5.07

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