doi: 10.3389/fphys.2013.00389 Hemodynamic actions of insulin: beyond the endothelium

Insulin’s hemodynamic actions are being progressively unraveled over the last two decades (Baron, 1994; Clark, 2008). Originally, Baron et al (Laakso et al., 1990) reported insulin-mediated increase in total blood flow, suggesting an associated higher delivery of nutrients and insulin to tar-get tissues. Nonetheless, the physiological meaning of that extensive hemodynamic action of insulin is controversial, given that lower insulin concentrations than those required to increase total blood flow, stimulate muscle glucose uptake (Yki-Jarvinen and Utriainen, 1998; Zhang et al., 2004). Afterward, a distinct vascu