A Comparison of
the Effects of Troglitazone and Vitamin E on the
Fatty Acid Composition of Serum Phospholipids in
an Experimental Model of Insulin Resistance
Š. CHVOJKOVÁ, L.
KAZDOVÁ, J. DIVIŠOVÁ
Institute
for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague,
Czech Republic
Received
May 23, 2000
Accepted October 27, 2000
Summary
The
aim of this study was to investigate the effects
of troglitazone (TRO) - a new insulin-sensitizing
agent - on some metabolic parameters in an
experimental model of hypertriglyceridemia and
insulin resistance, hereditary
hypertriglyceridemic rats, and to compare its
effects with those of vitamin E, an antioxidant
agent. Three groups of the above rats were fed
diets with a high content of sucrose (70 % of
energy as sucrose) for four weeks. The first
group was supplemented with TRO (120 mg/kg diet),
the second one with vitamin E (500 mg/kg diet),
and the third group served as the control.
Vitamin E supplementation did not lower serum
triglycerides (2.42±0.41 vs. 3.39±0.37 mmol/l,
N.S.) while TRO did (1.87±0.24 vs. 3.39±0.37
mmol/l, p<0.01). Neither TRO nor vitamin E
influenced the serum levels of free fatty acids
(FFA). Both drugs influenced the spectrum of
fatty acids in serum phospholipids - TRO
increased the levels of polyunsaturated fatty
acids (PUFA) n-6 (36.04±1.61 vs. 19.65±1.56 mol
%, p<0.001), vitamin E increased the levels of
PUFA n-3 (13.30±0.87 vs. 6.79±0.87 mol %,
p<0.001) and decreased the levels of saturated
fatty acids (32.97±0.58 vs. 51.45±4.01 mol %,
p<0.01). In conclusion, TRO lowered the level
of serum triglycerides but vitamin E did not have
this effect in hypertriglyceridemic rats.
Compared with TRO, vitamin E had a different
effect on the spectrum of fatty acids in serum
phospholipids.
Key
words
Troglitazone
· Vitamin E · Fatty acids · Serum
phospholipids · Insulin resistance
Reprint
requests
Ludmila
Kazdová, Metabolic Research Department,
Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine,
Vídeňská 1958/9, 140 21 Prague, Czech
Republic, fax: +420-2-6108 3490, e-mail: lukz@medicon.cz
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