RESUMO
Twenty-five patients suffering from mild hypertension and 10 healthy volunteers were studied. 2-dimensional guided M-mode echocardiography was used to measure the left ventricular end diastolic dimension, interventricular septum thickness, and posterior wall thickness. Left ventricular mass [LVM] and LVM index [LVMI] [corrected for body surface area] were calculated. Hypertensive patients were divided into those with normal [group I] or increased [group II] LVMI. Serum fasting insulin and IGF-1 were measured using radioimmunoassay. The mean fasting serum insulin [61 +/- 28.8 uU/ml] and IGF-1 [189 +/- 116.7 ng/ml] were significantly elevated in group II patients in comparison with those in group I [15.6 +/- 8.3 uU/ml and 76.1 +/- 27.6 ng/ml, p <0.001] and healthy subjects [5.8 +/- 4.3 uU/ml and 41.4 +/- 23.2 ng/ml, p < 0.001]. Both parameters were also higher in group I patients when compared with normal individuals. In the hypertensive patients, a significant direct correlation was observed between the LVMI and both serum insulin and serum IGF-1. Both insulin and IGF-1 have an important role in the pathogenesis of LVH associated with hypertension