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Telmisartan protects against insulin resistance by attenuating inflammatory response in rats

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Summary

This study investigated the effects of telmisartan on insulin resistance in high-fat diet-treated rats and the possible mechanism. A total of 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats enrolled in the study were divided into 4 groups at random: ND group (n=10) and HD group (n=10), in which the rats were given a normal chow diet or a high-fat diet for 20 weeks following a one-week adaptation; ND+telmisartan (n=10) group and HD+telmisartan group (n=10), in which the rats were initially administered in the same way as the ND or HD group, and then they were orally gavaged with telmisartan (5 mg/kg daily) additionally for 5 weeks. Related inflammatory factors were measured by ELISA. Monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), phosphorylated JNK and IκB-α expressions in both adipose and liver were detected by Western blotting. CRP and angiotensin II receptor 1 (AT1) mRNA expressions in both adipose and liver were determined by RT-PCR. The results showed that telmisartan administration in vivo reversed insulin resistance as evidenced by a decrease in plasma fasting glucose levels, plasma fasting insulin levels and homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Furthermore, telmisartan administration significantly reduced serum CRP, TNF-α and IL-1β levels, and elevated serum IL-10 levels. It was also found to hamper the high-fat diet-induced increase in CRP mRNA, AT1 mRNA and MCP-1, and decrease in IκB-α in both adipose and liver. It was concluded that telmisartan administration in vivo may improve insulin resistance through attenuated inflammatory response pathways.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine and the Institute of Hypertension, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China

    Xizhen Xu  (徐西振), Xiaoming Yin  (殷晓明), Wenjing Feng  (冯文静), Geng Li  (李 耕), Daowen Wang  (汪道文) & Ling Tu  (凃 玲)

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  1. Xizhen Xu  (徐西振)
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  2. Xiaoming Yin  (殷晓明)
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  3. Wenjing Feng  (冯文静)
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  4. Geng Li  (李 耕)
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  5. Daowen Wang  (汪道文)
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  6. Ling Tu  (凃 玲)
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Correspondence to Ling Tu  (凃 玲).

Additional information

This project was partially supported by a grant from National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (No. 30971247).

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Xu, X., Yin, X., Feng, W. et al. Telmisartan protects against insulin resistance by attenuating inflammatory response in rats. J. Huazhong Univ. Sci. Technol. [Med. Sci.] 31, 317–323 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-011-0374-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-011-0374-7

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