Aim: In an insulin-resistant state, excess lipids may accumulate in various non-adipose tissues, leading to histological and functional damage. It has been suggested that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ) may ameliorate disorganized lipid balance. In the current study, we analyzed whether pioglitazone, an agonist of PPARγ, reduces angiotensin II-induced vascular lipid accumulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn excess of lipids may accumulate in the kidney in conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, and can potentially cause renal injury. We previously reported that an infusion of angiotensin II into a rat induced deposition of lipids in the renal tubular epithelial cells. Here we have examined the effect of pioglitazone, an agonist of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ), on renal lipid accumulation and renal injury induced by angiotensin II infusion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe previously showed that administration of angiotensin II to rats causes fibrosis and lipid accumulation in the heart. In the current study, we examined the effect of pioglitazone, an agonist of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ, on angiotensin II-induced intracardiac lipid accumulation and cardiac dysfunction. Pioglitazone, given orally at a dose of 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone Syst
December 2011
Activation of the renin-angiotensin system may be involved in the development of hepatic steatosis, a condition that is associated with insulin resistance. We showed that in rats, angiotensin II induced accumulation of triglycerides in the renal tubular and cardiac cells, although it significantly reduced the weight of the rats. Here we investigated the liver lipid content of rats given long-term angiotensin II administration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnfavorable lipid accumulation may occur in the kidneys in the presence of metabolic syndrome and diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate whether excess lipids would accumulate in the kidneys of Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats, an animal model of metabolic syndrome. From 34 weeks of age, OLETF rats were treated orally with a calcium channel blocker, benidipine (3 mg kg(-1) per day), or an AT1 receptor blocker, losartan (25 mg kg(-1) per day), for 8 weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccumulation of lipids in the heart may cause cardiac dysfunction in various disorders, such as obesity and diabetes. In the current study, we have investigated whether administration of angiotensin II or norepinephrine induces accumulation of lipids and/or changes in the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism in the rat heart. Lipid deposition was found in myocardial, vascular wall, and perivascular cells of the angiotensin II-infused rat heart, and superoxide generation was increased in these lipid-positive cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough antihypertensive drugs confer improvement in endothelial dysfunction and protection from atherogenesis in hypertension, different classes of antihypertensive drugs may elicit different degrees of vasculoprotective effects. We have investigated the effects of a long-acting calcium antagonist, benidipine, and an angiotensin AT(1) receptor antagonist, losartan, on the vascular damage observed in OLETF rats, an animal model of metabolic syndrome. At 34 weeks of age, OLETF rats were treated with either benidipine (3 mg/kg/day, per os) or losartan (25 mg/kg/day, per os) for 8 weeks.
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