Insulin resistance is one of the determinants of
postprandial hyperglycemia.
Acarbose is an
alpha-glucosidase inhibitor that delays the absorption of
carbohydrates from the small intestine, thereby suppressing
postprandial hyperglycemia. Recently,
acarbose has been found to reduce the incidence of
cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with diabetes. These observations suggest that intervention of
postprandial hyperglycemia with
acarbose is a promising strategy for the prevention of CVD in diabetic patients. However, the effects of
acarbose on
insulin sensitivity are not fully understood. In this study, we examined whether
oral administration of
acarbose could improve
insulin sensitivity in
fructose-fed rats, a widely used
insulin-resistant animal model. Although plasma
glucose levels remained unchanged during the experiments, serum
insulin levels were significantly increased in
fructose-fed rats, which were suppressed by 4 weeks of treatment with
acarbose.
Acarbose treatment also increased
high-density lipoprotein levels in
fructose-fed rats. Furthermore, treatment of
acarbose inhibited the elevation of systolic blood pressure levels in
fructose-fed rats. These results indicate that
oral administration of
acarbose improves
insulin sensitivity in
fructose-fed rats. Our present study suggests that the cardioprotecive effects of
acarbose could be ascribed, at least in part, to its
insulin-sensitizing property.