Abstract
Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a disease with an inflammatory component. Telmisartan improves insulin resistance in MS, but its relationship with the inflammatory state is unknown. We investigated the effect of 3-month telmisartan therapy on homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in hypertensive subjects with MS with regard to the levels of circulating plasma cytokines.
Methods
A total of 42 patients were included in this study; 30 were men (71%), aged 50 ± 8.2 years (mean ± SD). Cytokines and metabolic parameters were analyzed before and after treatment with telmisartan.
Results
Twenty-eight patients showed low plasma levels of cytokines (group 1) similar to control subjects, and 14 showed high levels (group 2). Treatment with telmisartan diminished by 35% HOMA-IR in group 1 (4.5 ± 3.1 vs 2.9 ± 2.1), without improvement in group 2. In the multivariate analysis, the predictors of improvement of HOMA-IR in response to telmisartan treatment were low levels of cytokines, whereas systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the elevation of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein had a negative effect.
Conclusions
Our study provides evidence of a more favorable effect of telmisartan on glucose homeostasis in patients with MS and low levels of serum cytokines.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.