Salicylate Benefits Insulin-Resistant Obese Subjects

Anti-platelet agent triflusal reduces fasting blood glucose and increases insulin secretion

WEDNESDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- In insulin-resistant but otherwise healthy obese subjects, treatment with the salicylate derivative triflusal reduces fasting glucose levels, according to a report published online May 6 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Jose-Manuel Fernandez-Real, M.D., Ph.D., of the Institut d'Investigacio Biomedica de Girona in Girona, Spain, and colleagues randomly assigned 38 subjects (mean body mass index 33.9) to three four-week treatment periods with 600 milligrams of triflusal or 900 milligrams of triflusal. They also evaluated the in vitro effects of triflusal on insulin secretion in mouse and human islets of Langerhans.

The researchers found that the 600 mg and 900 mg doses of triflusal reduced fasting glucose levels from a baseline mean of 98.6 mg/dL to means of 95.8 mg/dL and 94.2 mg/dL, respectively. They also found that the subjects' insulin secretion -- but not their insulin sensitivity -- significantly increased after each treatment period. The in vitro studies also showed that triflusal increased insulin secretion.

"We suggest that this effect was mediated through increased insulin secretion induced by salicylate directly on the beta-cell," the authors conclude. "As insulin sensitivity did not significantly change, the effects on inflammation-associated insulin resistance seem less plausible."

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