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. 2015 May;6(3):325-33.
doi: 10.1111/jdi.12298. Epub 2014 Dec 5.

Ezetimibe combined with standard diet and exercise therapy improves insulin resistance and atherosclerotic markers in patients with metabolic syndrome

Kyoko Ohbu-Murayama  1 , Hisashi Adachi  2 , Yuji Hirai  1 , Mika Enomoto  1 , Ako Fukami  1 , Aya Obuchi  1 , Ayako Yoshimura  1 , Sachiko Nakamura  1 , Yume Nohara  1 , Erika Nakao  1 , Yoko Umeki  1 , Yoshihiro Fukumoto  1
Affiliations

Ezetimibe combined with standard diet and exercise therapy improves insulin resistance and atherosclerotic markers in patients with metabolic syndrome

Kyoko Ohbu-Murayama et al. J Diabetes Investig. 2015 May.

Abstract

Aims/introduction: Ezetimibe lowers serum lipid levels by inhibiting intestinal absorption of dietary and biliary cholesterol. However, the effect of ezetimibe on insulin resistance remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to examine this issue in patients with metabolic syndrome in local-dwelling Japanese, who were not being treated with lipid-lowering drugs.

Materials and methods: In 2009, 1,943 participants received a health examination in the Tanushimaru Study, a Japanese cohort of the Seven Countries Study, of whom 490 participants had metabolic syndrome. Among them, 61 participants (41 men and 20 women) were examined in the present study. They were treated with 10 mg of ezetimibe once a day for 24 weeks, combined with standard diet and exercise therapy.

Results: Bodyweight (P < 0.001), body mass index (P < 0.001), systolic blood pressure (P = 0.003), diastolic blood pressure (P < 0.001), triglycerides (P = 0.002), non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < 0.001) and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (P = 0.011) significantly decreased after the observational period. There were no statistically significant differences in the effects of ezetimibe between men and women. Univariate analysis showed that the reduction of homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance was not associated with the improvement of other metabolic components.

Conclusions: Ezetimibe combined with standard diet and exercise therapy improves not only bodyweight and atherogenic lipid profiles, but also insulin resistance, blood pressure and anthropometric factors in metabolic syndrome in local-dwelling Japanese. Interestingly, the improvement of insulin resistance had no correlation with other metabolic components.

Keywords: Ezetimibe; Insulin resistance; Metabolic syndrome.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of enrolled participants.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Differential improvement of homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) between high- and low-HOMA-IR groups. When the patients are divided into high- and low-HOMA-IR groups by using the median of HOMA-IR, the high group (n = 30) shows a dramatically significant decrease of HOMA-IR, whereas the low group (n = 31) shows a more modest, but still significant, increase of HOMA-IR.
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