Nitric Oxide and β-Adrenergic Stimulation Are Major Regulators of Preprandial and Postprandial Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Blood Flow in Humans

Abstract

Background— Blood flow mediates the metabolic and endocrine roles of adipose tissue. We have previously shown that the postprandial adipose tissue blood flow (ATBF) increase is dependent on insulin sensitivity. However, subcutaneous local insulin delivery had no demonstrable effect on either preprandial or postprandial ATBF. We hypothesized that insulin may act indirectly via sympathetic activation, mainly in the postprandial period, and that nitric oxide may be an overall major regulator of subcutaneous ATBF. Methods and Results— We investigated the endogenous preprandial and postprandial regulation of ATBF by applying local tissue blockade of β-adrenergic (propranolol), α-adrenergic (phentolamine and yohimbine), and nitric oxide (NG-monomethyl-l-arginine, L-NMMA) regulation of blood flow. Healthy subjects (body mass index, 18 to 31 kg/m2) were challenged with 75 g glucose for endogenous stimulation of ATBF. We used the novel “microinfusion” technique, which allows for simultaneous local delivery of phar...