The shear complexity of insulin‐stimulated vasodilatation

Insulin-stimulated blood flow is critical to delivery and disposal of glucose in skeletal muscle. The vasodilatory action of insulin is mediated largely through activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) by Akt phosphorylation. However, insulin also activates Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) resulting in the release of the potent vasoconstrictor peptide endothelin-1 (Eringa et al. 2007). Thus, the vasoactive effects of...