Effect of telmisartan on serum adiponectin, urine microalbumin of obese mice

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the effect of telmisartan on serum adiponectin and urine microalbumin(mAlb) level by administrating it to mice with simple obesity, so as to explore new therapies for obesity-related kidney diseases. Method A total of 24 8-week-old male OB mice and 8 8-week-old male C57 mice were selected for this study. The genetic background of OB mouse was C57 mouse, but the lepin gene was deleted in OB mouse. OB mice were randomly divided into 3 groups by body weight and fed with high-fat diet for 12 weeks: model group(M group), telmisartan group(T1 group) and losartan group(T2 group). C57 mice acted as control and were fed with general diet for 12 weeks. Serum adiponectin and blood glucose levels were measured before and after treatment. 24 h urine was collected to measure urine mAlb. Quantitative real-time PCR(qRT-PCR) was used to measure the expression level of peroxisome proliferators-activated receptors gamma mRNA(PPAR γ mRNA). HE stain was used to observe the morphological changes of kidney and measure the glomerular diameter. Body weight, serum adiponectin level, blood glucose level, urine mAlb level, expression level of kidney PPARγ mRNA, kidney wet weight and glomerular diameter of 4 groups were compared and a correlation analysis was carried out by Person correlation coefficient. Results Compared with C group, the urine mAlb level in M group increased(P<0.01), serum adiponectin level and the expression level of kidney PPARγ mRNA in M group decreased(P <0.01); The urine mAlb level was negatively correlated with serum adiponectin level and expression of kidney PPARγ mRNA(r=-0.773,P <0.01;r=-0.469,P <0.01). The urine mAlb level in T1 group was lower than M group(P <0.05), serum adiponectin level and expression of kidney PPARγ mRNA in T1 group were higher than M group(P <0.05). Compared with T2 group, the urine mAlb level in T1 group decreased, serum adiponectin level and expression of kidney PPARγ mRNA in T1 group increased(P <0.05); Compared with M group, the urine mAlb level in T2 group decreased(P=0.01). The morphological changes of kidney: glomerular volume increase and focal segmental sclerosis were found in some mice in M group and T2 group. No glomerular volume increase and focal segmental sclerosis were observed in T1 group. Conclusions Telmisartan can reduce urine microalbumin, whose mechanism might be that telmisartan can active the PPARγ and promote the level of serum adiponectin. Key words: Kidney disease; Obesity; Serum adiponectin; PPAR gamma; Telmisartan; Urine microalbumin