This study used PET imaging to determine the cardiovascular effect of dipyridamole and cold pressor testing on young insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant individuals. They found that the cold pressor test was abnormal in insulin-resistant individuals, suggesting endothelial dysfunction. The dipyridamole test was normal in both insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant individuals, suggesting normal vascular smooth-muscle in both groups. This research suggest that the cardiovascular effects of insulin-resistance occur prior to the development of type II diabetes.

REF: Ann Intern Med 4 May 2004 | Volume 140 Issue 9 | Pages 700-708

Manuel J. Quiñones, MD; Miguel Hernandez-Pampaloni, MD, PhD; Heinrich Schelbert, MD, PhD; Isabel Bulnes-Enriquez, MD; Xochitl Jimenez, MD; Gustavo Hernandez, MD; Roxana De La Rosa, BS; Yun Chon, PhD; Huiying Yang, MD, PhD; Susanne B. Nicholas, MD, PhD; Tamara Modilevsky, MD; Katherine Yu, MD; Katja Van Herle, MD; Lawrence W. Castellani, PhD; Robert Elashoff, PhD; and Willa A. Hsueh, MD

URL: http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/abstract/140/9/700