title: Possible synergistic effect of ACE inhibition and calcium-channel blockade on insulin sensitivity in insulin-resistant type II diabetic hypertensive patients.
abstract: So-called insulin resistance is a frequent phenomenon and a marker of increased risk for both type II diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis. Today, insulin resistance is widely understood as a tissue- and pathway-specific defect of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake into skeletal muscle that is compensated for by hyperinsulinemia, leading to a cluster of undesirable hypertensiogenic, diabetogenic, and atherogenic processes. Additional defects of insulin-stimulated muscle blood flow and cellular kation balance are presently attracting increasing awareness. Clinical and experimental evidence suggests that angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition ameliorates both insulin-stimulated skeletal-muscle glucose uptake and blood flow in insulin-resistant states by a direct stimulation of cellular glucose uptake, which appears to be kinin-mediated. This improvement of insulin sensitivity could mean not only improvement of glucose metabolism, but also reduction of chronically elevated serum insulin and the ensuing atherogenic consequences (hyper- and dyslipidemia, sympathetic overactivity, growth of vascular smooth-muscle cells, hypertension, etc.). Ca(2+)-channel blockers that do not increase heart rate appear to exert direct antiatherogenic effects while being metabolically neutral. Thus, the combination of Ca(2+)-channel blockade by sustained release verapamil and ACE inhibition by trandolapril in insulin-resistant type II diabetic patients with essential hypertension appears to be promising in terms of possible synergistic effects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Institute for Diabetes Research, Schwabing Hospital, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rett
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wicklmayr
mesh_terms: D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004357:Drug Synergism; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D009132:Muscles / Q000098:blood supply
chemical_list: D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D005947:Glucose