Enhanced stimulation of glucose uptake by insulin increases exercise-stimulated glucose uptake in skeletal muscle in humans: studies using [15O]O2, [15O]H2O, [18F]fluoro-deoxy-glucose, and positron emission tomography.

In vitro studies have shown that insulin and exercise stimulate glucose uptake in part via distinct mechanisms. We determined whether a high rate of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake (good insulin sensitivity) is associated with an enhanced ability of exercise to increase glucose uptake in vivo in humans. In our study, 22 normal subjects performed one-legged isometric exercise for 105 min (45-150 min) under intravenously maintained euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic conditions (0-150 min). Rates of oxygen consumption, blood flow, and glucose uptake were quantitated simultaneously in skeletal muscle of both legs using [15O]O2, [15O]H2O, [18F]fluoro-deoxy-glucose, and positron emission tomography. The one-legged exercise, performed at an intensity of 11% of maximal isometric force, was designed to induce similar increases in oxygen consumption in both groups. In the entire group, exercise increased oxygen consumption from 2.3 +/- 0.3 ml x kg(-1) muscle x min(-1) (insulin) to 34.2 +/- 3. ml x kg(-1) muscle x min(-1) (insulin and exercise) (P < 0.001) and muscle glucose uptake from 60 +/- 6 pmol x kg(-1) muscle x min(-1) (insulin) to 220 +/- 22 micromol x kg(-1) muscle x min(-1) (insulin and exercise) (P < 0.001). The exercise-induced increase in glucose uptake was due to marked increases in blood flow (36 +/- 5 ml x kg(-1) muscle x min(-1) [insulin] vs. 262 +/- 20 ml x kg(-1) muscle x min(-1) [insulin and exercise], P < 0.001) rather than glucose extraction, which decreased from 2.0 +/- 0.2 mmol/l (insulin) to 1.0 +/- 0.1 mmol/1 (insulin and exercise) (P < 0.001). The subjects were classified according to their mean rate of whole-body insulin-stimulated glucose uptake into those with high (49 +/- 3 micromol x kg(-1) x min(-1)) and normal (27 +/- 2 micromol x kg(-1) x min(-1)) rates of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Both insulin-stimulated (2.4 +/- 1.1 vs. 2.3 +/- 1.2 ml x kg(-1) muscle x min(-1), normal vs. high insulin sensitivity) and exercise- and insulin-stimulated (33 +/- 6 vs. 34 +/- 4 ml x kg(-1) muscle x min(-1)) rates of oxygen consumption were comparable between the groups. Exercise increased glucose uptake more in the group with high insulin sensitivity (195 +/- 25 pmol x kg(-1) muscle x min(-1)) than in the group with normal insulin sensitivity (125 +/- 19 micromol x kg(-1) muscle x min(-1)) (P < 0.05). Muscle blood flow was closely correlated with the rate of oxygen consumption (r = 0.91, P < 0.0001), and insulin-stimulated (30 +/- 5 vs. 35 +/- 6 ml x kg(-1) muscle x min(-1)) and exercise-induced increments (222 +/- 31 vs. 228 +/- 23 ml x kg(-1) muscle x min(-1)) in muscle blood flow were similar between the groups. Glucose extraction remained higher in the group with high insulin sensitivity (1.2 +/- 0.2 mmol/l) than in the group with normal insulin sensitivity (0.7 +/- 0.1 mmol/l, P < 0.05). We conclude that whereas acute exercise per se increases glucose uptake via increasing glucose delivery, good insulin sensitivity modulates exercise-induced increases in glucose uptake by enhancing cellular glucose extraction.

Muscle blood flow and flow heterogeneity during exercise studied with positron emission tomography in humans.

Blood flow is the main regulator of skeletal muscle's oxygen supply, and several studies have shown heterogeneous blood flow among and within muscles. However, it remains unclear whether exercise changes the heterogeneity of flow in exercising human skeletal muscle. Muscle blood flow and spatial flow heterogeneity were measured simultaneously in exercising and in the contralateral resting quadriceps femoris (QF) muscle in eight healthy men using H2(15)O and positron emission tomography. The relative dispersion (standard deviation/mean) of blood flow was calculated as an index of spatial flow heterogeneity. Average muscle blood flow in QF was 29 (10) ml x (kg muscle)(-1) x min(-1) at rest and 146 (54) ml x (kg muscle)(-1) x min(-1) during exercise (P = 0.008 for the difference). Blood flow was significantly (P < 0.001) higher in the vastus medialis and the vastus intermedius than in the vastus lateralis and the rectus femoris, both in the resting and the exercising legs. Flow was more homogeneous in the exercising vastus medialis and more heterogeneous (P < 0.001) in the exercising vastus lateralis (P = 0.01) than in the resting contralateral muscle. Flow was more homogeneous (P < 0.001) in those exercising muscles in which flow was highest (vastus intermedius and vastus medialis) as compared to muscles with the lowest flow (vastus lateralis and the rectus femoris). These data demonstrate that muscle blood flow varies among different muscles in humans both at rest and during exercise. Muscle perfusion is spatially heterogeneous at rest and during exercise, but responses to exercise are different depending on the muscle.