The Effect of Acute Hyperglycaemia Induced by Oral Glucose Load on Heart Rate Variability and Skin Microvascular Reactivity in Young Adults

Abstract

We aimed to elucidate the effects of acute hyperglycaemia, induced by an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and skin microvascular reactivity at the time point of peak plasma glucose concentration (cglc) in 20 young, healthy participants. We assessed their heart rate variability (HRV) as a measure of the ANS activity and the parameters of post-occlusive reactive hyperaemia (PORH) to estimate skin microvascular reactivity as measured by laser Doppler (LD) fluxmetry. The tests were repeated 30 min after a standard OGTT (75 g glucose dissolved in 250 mL water) and, in a separate control experiment, after drinking the same amount of water. Participants had their cglc and serum insulin measured at three consecutive time-points according to the testing protocol. The low-frequency (LF) spectral power, the LF to high-frequency (LF/HF) ratio, and the diastolic blood pressure increased significantly more after water than after OGTT, and there was a trend of the peak LD flux of PORH decreasing more after OGTT than after water. Significant correlations between some PORH and all the HRV parameters and cglc increase after OGTT were found, implying diminished vascular reactivity evoked by hyperglycaemia in healthy subjects with lower glucose tolerance.