Differential effects of angiotensin receptor blockers on pancreatic islet remodelling and glucose homeostasis in diet-induced obese mice.
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
High-fat diet | increase | overweight | mice | - | yielded | #1 |
High-fat diet | increase | insulin resistance | mice | - | yielded | #2 |
High-fat diet | increase | islet apoptosis | mice | - | yielded | #3 |
High-fat diet | increase | islet hypertrophy | mice | - | yielded | #4 |
losartan | increase | suitable insulin levels | diet-induced obese mice | - | correlated to | #5 |
losartan | increase | preserved endocrine pancreas structure | diet-induced obese mice | - | correlated to | #6 |
losartan | increase | adequate AKT-FOXO1 pathway functioning | diet-induced obese mice | - | correlated to | #7 |
telmisartan | increase | PDX1 islet expression | diet-induced obese mice | - | yielded enhanced | #8 |
telmisartan | increase | GLP-1 islet expression | diet-induced obese mice | - | yielded enhanced | #9 |
telmisartan | increase | greater GLP-1 levels | diet-induced obese mice | - | yielded | #10 |
telmisartan | increase | better islet glucose sensing | diet-induced obese mice | - | yielded | #11 |
telmisartan | increase | better islet glucose uptake | diet-induced obese mice | - | yielded | #12 |
both treatments (losartan and telmisartan) | increase | greater islet vascularisation | diet-induced obese mice | - | yielded | #13 |
both treatments (losartan and telmisartan) | decrease | reduced apoptosis | diet-induced obese mice | - | yielded | #14 |
both treatments (losartan and telmisartan) | decrease | reduced macrophage infiltration | diet-induced obese mice | - | yielded | #15 |
telmisartan and losartan | increase | pancreatic islet structure | obese mice | - | ameliorate | #16 |
telmisartan and losartan | increase | glucose handling | obese mice | - | ameliorate | #17 |
telmisartan and losartan | increase | vascularisation | obese mice | - | ameliorate | #18 |
telmisartan | decrease | overweight | obese mice | - | countered | #19 |
both drugs (telmisartan and losartan) | decrease | reduced apoptosis | obese mice | - | yielded | #20 |
both drugs (telmisartan and losartan) | increase | islet preservation | obese mice | - | yielded | #21 |
Obesity leads to adverse endocrine pancreas remodelling, reduced islet lifespan and early type 2 diabetes onset. AT1R blockade shows beneficial pleiotropic effects. This study sought to compare the effects of losartan and telmisartan on pancreatic islets remodelling and glucose homeostasis in diet-induced obese mice. High-fat diet yielded overweight, insulin resistance, islet apoptosis and hypertrophy. Suitable insulin levels and preserved endocrine pancreas structure were correlated to adequate AKT-FOXO1 pathway functioning in losartan-treated animals. Conversely, telmisartan yielded enhanced PDX1 and GLP-1 islet expression along with greater GLP-1 levels, with the consequent better islet glucose sensing and uptake. Greater islet vascularisation coupled with reduced apoptosis and macrophage infiltration seems to underlie the beneficial findings in both treatments. In conclusion, these results provide compelling evidence that two antihypertensive drugs (telmisartan and losartan) ameliorate pancreatic islet structure, glucose handling, and vascularisation in obese mice. Although only telmisartan countered overweight, both drugs yielded reduced apoptosis and islet preservation, with translational potential.