Beneficial effects of acarbose in the atherosclerosis-prone JCR: LA-corpulent rat

The JCR:LA-corpulent rat is a strain exhibiting marked obesity and metabolic derangements characterized by hyperlipidemia due to hypersecretion of very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and severe insulin resistance. The corpulent male rats spontaneously develop atherosclerosis and ischemic myocardial lesions. Male corpulent rats were treated with acarbose in the presence and absence of sugar-supplemented diets. The acarbose-treated rats had lower body weights at 3 months of age with unaltered food consumption, and a similar effect was seen with a high-fructose diet. Fasting insulin concentrations were decreased significantly in acarbose-treated animals at both 3 and 9 months of age, and the rate of plasma glucose disappearance increased at 3 months of age. Acarbose treatment did not affect whole-serum triglyceride concentrations, but there were modest decreases in cholesterol levels. Sugar-supplemented diets caused no significant changes in insulin or glucose concentrations, and caused small increases in nonesterified cholesterol only. Fructose-but not sucrose-supplemented diets were associated with a significantly decreased frequency of old scarred myocardial lesions. The frequency of occurrence of such lesions was also decreased by acarbose treatment. This effect of acarbose treatment may reflect improvement in insulin and glucose metabolism in treated rats. The decrease in myocardial lesions in fructose-fed rats may be secondary to increased carbohydrate metabolism via the pathways leading from fructose to triglyceride.