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Oral glucose ingestion leads to impaired muscle microvascular blood flow (MBF), which may contribute to acute hyperglycemia-induced insulin resistance. We investigated whether incorporating lipids and protein into a high-glucose load would prevent postprandial MBF dysfunction. Ten healthy young men (age, 27 yr [24, 30], mean with lower and upper bounds of the 95% confidence interval; height, 180 cm [174, 185]; weight, 77 kg [70, 84]) ingested a high-glucose (1.1 g/kg glucose) mixed-nutrient meal (10 kcal/kg; 45% carbohydrate, 20% protein, and 35% fat) in the morning after an overnight fast. Femoral arterial blood flow was measured via Doppler ultrasound, and thigh MBF was measured via contrast-enhanced ultrasound, before meal ingestion and 1 h and 2 h postprandially. Blood glucose and plasma insulin were measured at baseline and every 15 min throughout the 2-h postprandial period. Compared with baseline, thigh muscle microvascular blood volume, velocity, and flow were significantly impaired at 60 min postprandial (−25%, −27%, and −46%, respectively; all P < 0.05) and to a greater extent at 120 min postprandial (−37%, −46%, and −64%; all P < 0.01). Heart rate and femoral arterial diameter, blood velocity, and blood flow were significantly increased at 60 min and 120 min postprandial (all P < 0.05). Higher blood glucose area under the curve was correlated with greater MBF dysfunction ( R2 = 0.742; P < 0.001). Ingestion of a high-glucose mixed-nutrient meal impairs MBF in healthy individuals for up to 2 h postprandial.

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Aims/hypothesis Microvascular blood flow (MBF) increases in skeletal muscle postprandially to aid in glucose delivery and uptake in muscle. This vascular action is impaired in individuals who are obese or have type 2 diabetes. Whether MBF is impaired in normoglycaemic people at risk of type 2 diabetes is unknown. We aimed to determine whether apparently healthy people at risk of type 2 diabetes display impaired skeletal muscle microvascular responses to a mixed-nutrient meal. Methods In this cross-sectional study, participants with no family history of type 2 diabetes (FH−) for two generations (n = 18), participants with a positive family history of type 2 diabetes (FH+; i.e. a parent with type 2 diabetes; n = 16) and those with type 2 diabetes (n = 12) underwent a mixed meal challenge (MMC). Metabolic responses (blood glucose, plasma insulin and indirect calorimetry) were measured before and during the MMC. Skeletal muscle large artery haemodynamics (2D and Doppler ultrasound, and Mobil-O-graph) and microvascular responses (contrast-enhanced ultrasound) were measured at baseline and 1 h post MMC. Results Despite normal blood glucose concentrations, FH+ individuals displayed impaired metabolic flexibility (reduced ability to switch from fat to carbohydrate oxidation vs FH−; p < 0.05) during the MMC. The MMC increased forearm muscle microvascular blood volume in both the FH− (1.3-fold, p < 0.01) and FH+ (1.3-fold, p < 0.05) groups but not in participants with type 2 diabetes. However, the MMC increased MBF (1.9-fold, p < 0.01), brachial artery diameter (1.1-fold, p < 0.01) and brachial artery blood flow (1.7-fold, p < 0.001) and reduced vascular resistance (0.7-fold, p < 0.001) only in FH− participants, with these changes being absent in FH+ and type 2 diabetes. Participants with type 2 diabetes displayed significantly higher vascular stiffness (p < 0.001) compared with those in the FH− and FH+ groups; however, vascular stiffness did not change during the MMC in any participant group. Conclusions/interpretation Normoglycaemic FH+ participants display impaired postprandial skeletal muscle macro-and microvascular responses, suggesting that poor vascular responses to a meal may contribute to their increased risk of type 2 diabetes. We conclude that vascular insulin resistance may be an early precursor to type 2 diabetes in humans, which can be revealed using an MMC.

Skeletal muscle contributes to ~40% of total body mass and has numerous important mechanical and metabolic roles in the body. Skeletal muscle is a major site for glucose disposal following a meal. Consequently, skeletal muscle plays an important role in postprandial blood glucose homeostasis. Over the past number of decades, research has demonstrated that insulin has an important role in vasodilating the vasculature in skeletal muscle in response to an insulin infusion (hyperinsulinaemic‐euglycaemic clamp) or following the ingestion of a meal. This vascular action of insulin is pivotal for glucose disposal in skeletal muscle, as insulin‐stimulated vasodilation increases the delivery of both glucose and insulin to the myocyte. Notably, in insulin‐resistant states such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, this vascular response of insulin in skeletal muscle is significantly impaired. Whereas the majority of work in this field has focussed on the action of insulin alone on skeletal muscle microvascular blood flow and myocyte glucose metabolism, there is less understanding of how the consumption of a meal may affect skeletal muscle blood flow. This is in part due to complex variations in glucose and insulin dynamics that occurs postprandially—with changes in humoral concentrations of glucose, insulin, amino acids, gut and pancreatic peptides—compared to the hyperinsulinaemic‐euglycaemic clamp. This review will address the emerging body of evidence to suggest that postprandial blood flow responses in skeletal muscle may be a function of the nutritional composition of a meal.