Rimonabant has been shown to not only decrease the food intake and
body weight but also to increase serum
adiponectin levels. This increase of the serum
adiponectin levels has been hypothesized to be related to the
rimonabant-induced amelioration of
insulin resistance linked to
obesity, although experimental evidence to support this hypothesis is lacking. To test this hypothesis experimentally, we generated
adiponectin knock-out (adipo(-/-))ob/ob mice. After 21 days of 30 mg/kg
rimonabant, the
body weight and food intake decreased to similar degrees in the ob/ob and adipo(-/-)ob/ob mice. Significant improvement of
insulin resistance was observed in the ob/ob mice following
rimonabant treatment, associated with significant up-regulation of the plasma
adiponectin levels, in particular, of high molecular weight
adiponectin. Amelioration of
insulin resistance in the ob/ob mice was attributed to the decrease of
glucose production and activation of
AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in the liver induced by
rimonabant but not to increased
glucose uptake by the skeletal muscle. Interestingly, the
rimonabant-treated adipo(-/-)ob/ob mice also exhibited significant amelioration of
insulin resistance, although the degree of improvement was significantly lower as compared with that in the ob/ob mice. The effects of
rimonabant on the liver metabolism, namely decrease of
glucose production and activation of AMPK, were also less pronounced in the adipo(-/-)ob/ob mice. Thus, it was concluded that
rimonabant ameliorates
insulin resistance via both
adiponectin-dependent and
adiponectin-independent pathways.