J Hypertens. 2007 Apr;25(4):841-8. Related Articles, Links

Effects of telmisartan on fat distribution in individuals with the
metabolic syndrome.

Shimabukuro M, Tanaka H, Shimabukuro T.

Second Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine,
University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa and Diabetes and Life-style Related
Disease Center, Tomishiro Chuo Hospital, Okinawa, Japan.

BACKGROUND: Visceral fat obesity plays an essential role in the
clustering of atherosclerotic multiple risk factors in the metabolic
syndrome. Telmisartan, an angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker, has
partial agonistic properties for peroxisome proliferator-activated
receptor gamma, which is a key regulator of adipocyte differentiation
and function. METHODS: This study aimed to clarify the impact of
telmisartan on fat distribution and insulin sensitivity in the
metabolic syndrome. In this open-label, prospective, randomized study,
patients with the metabolic syndrome (waist circumference: men >/= 85
cm, women >/= 90 cm) were treated either with amlodipine (n = 26) or
with telmisartan (n = 27) for 24 weeks, and fat distribution and
insulin sensitivity were determined. RESULTS: Systolic and diastolic
blood pressure were decreased in both groups to a comparable level.
However, insulin and glucose levels during an oral 75 g glucose
loading were decreased only in the telmisartan group. The visceral fat
area, determined by abdominal computed tomography scan, was reduced in
the telmisartan group after 24 weeks' treatment, but the subcutaneous
fat area did not change in either group. CONCLUSION: The results imply
that telmisartan could treat both the hemodynamic and metabolic
aberrations seen in patients with the metabolic syndrome, improving
insulin resistance and glucose intolerance at least partly through
visceral fat remodeling.

PMID: 17351377 [PubMed - in process]

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Evidence that insulin drives belly fat