Therapeutic Actions of Allylmercaptocaptopril and Captopril in a Rat Model of Metabolic Syndrome

Background Hypertension often coexists with hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, and glucose intolerance in metabolic syndrome. Allylmercaptocaptopril is a conjugate of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor captopril with allicin, an active principle in garlic with multiple beneficial actions on metabolic-syndrome abnormalities. We sought to test the hypothesis that the conjugation of allicin to captopril may confer additional therapeutic actions in metabolic disease. Methods We compared allylmercaptocaptopril (53.5 mg/kg/day orally for 60 days) to an equimolar dose of captopril (40 mg/kg/day) in the spontaneously hypertensive, obese rat (SHROB) model. Results Allylmercaptocaptopril prevented progressive weight gain, without a detectable effect on food intake. Both captopril and allylmercaptocaptopril lowered blood pressure, but allylmercaptocaptopril was more effective. Allylmercaptocaptopril, but not captopril, improved cardiac hypertrophy, as indicated by heart weight and ventricular-wall thickness. Allylmercaptocaptopril improved, whereas captopril impaired, oral glucose tolerance after a fast. Triglycerides were decreased by both captopril and allylmercaptocaptopril. Total cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol were reduced by captopril but not by allylmercaptocaptopril. The SHROB rats developed severe glomerulosclerosis and renal failure. Allylmercaptocaptopril showed significant nephro-protection, as indicated by reductions in urinary protein loss, urinary protein-to-creatinine ratio, and plasma creatinine. Captopril showed the same trends and also prevented the decline of creatinine clearance. Finally, both allylmercaptocaptopril and captopril reduced the basal level of lipolysis in isolated abdominal adipocytes, and restored the response to catecholamine stimulation. Conclusions Both captopril and allylmercaptocaptopril are effective in attenuating multiple abnormalities of metabolic syndrome. Allylmercaptocaptopril may have additional effectiveness on improving glucose tolerance, further lowering blood pressure, reducing cardiac hypertrophy, preventing weight gain, and protecting against renal disease.