title: Effect of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor enalapril on body weight and composition in young rats.
abstract: Obesity is considered a worldwide public health problem showing an increased prevalence in developing countries, with urgent need for new and more efficient drugs and therapies. Enalapril, an angiotensin-I converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi), is classically used in anti-hypertensive therapies, however, earlier publications have shown that this drug could also have significant impact on body weight in rats as well as in humans, besides reducing blood pressure. The effect of this drug in the white adipose tissue has been neglected for long time, even considering that most components of the renin-angiotensin and kallikrein-kinin system are expressed in this tissue. Furthermore, the adipose tissue is considered today as one of the most important sites for endocrine/inflammatory regulation of appetite and energy output and AngII has been linked to the metabolism in this tissue. Therefore, we analyzed the influence of chronic enalapril treatment in normotensive rats at earlier ages, evaluating body weight, energy homeostasis, lipid profile and serum levels of the hormones leptin and insulin, in the presence of a standard or a palatable hyperlipidic diet regimen for one month. Our results show that enalapril treatment is able to reduce body fat on both diets, without alteration in serum lipid profile. Furthermore, animals receiving enalapril showed reduction in food intake, leptin level and energy intake. In summary, these findings show for the first time that the ACEi enalapril reduces body fat in young normotensive rats and highlights a novel target to treat obesity and associated diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 04023-062 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Edson L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Kely
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: de Picoli Souza
authors.forename: Paola Bianchi
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.forename: Felipe Castellani Gomes
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: Sylvia Maria Affonso
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Claudio M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Costa-Neto
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luz
authors.forename: João B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Pesquero
mesh_terms: D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition / Q000187:drug effects*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects*; D004656:Enalapril / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002149:Energy Intake; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors; D020738:Leptin; D008055:Lipids; D004656:Enalapril