Pancreas fat content, insulin homeostasis and circulating endothelial microparticles in male essential hypertensive patients

The pancreas fat content has been poorly investigated in essential hypertension. The authors aim to relate pancreas and liver fat content with parameters measuring insulin resistance, beta-cell function and also with markers of endothelial dysfunction and platelet or endothelial cell destruction. The authors studied a group of 40 male hypertensive patients with well-controlled blood pressure, maintaining a stable weight, and having not changed their medication during the last year. Pancreas fat content was correlated with HOMA-IR (r = .616, p .001), HOMA-S (r = -.439, p .005), beta cell function parameter (r = .457, p .005), and QUICKI (r = .412, p .01), whereas liver fat was not patients in the highest quartile of pancreas fat content had more circulating endothelial microparticles than patients in the other quartiles (median 129 [94.3-200] vs. 60.9 [49.4-88.8], p = .002). However, patients in the highest quartile of the pancreas fat content distribution did not differ from the lowest in hyperemic response after ischemia nor circulating platelet microparticles count. Liver fat content was not related to any of the parameters studied. In a multivariate stepwise binary logistic regression analysis (Wald Method) circulating endothelial microparticles remain significantly associated with pancreas fat content after adjusting for confounding factors, such as tobacco, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, or metabolic syndrome. Our results reflect that in essential hypertension, pancreas fat content is superior to liver fat to study beta-cell functionality and insulin resistance. Moreover, the authors described for the first time that pancreas fat content is related to endothelial cell destruction. Further studies are needed to confirm this point.