BACKGROUND
Insulin resistance is one of the major pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is reported that cilostazol and cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor has the anti-platelet effect as well as an improvement of hypertriglyceridemia in addition to vasodilatation. Furthermore, the previous reports indicated that there is a positive relationship between insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. Thus, we investigated the effects of cilostazol on insulin resistance in OLETF rats using the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic glucose clamp technique, and lipid levels. METHODS: Fifteen five months old OLETF rats were fed for 4 weeks(8 treated with cilostazol and 7 were control), and compare to 20 same aged LETO rats (8 treated with cilostazol and 12 were control) through the glucose infusion rate on euglycemic hyperinsulinemic glucose clamp and lipid profiles. RESULTS: The glucose infusion rate was higher in the cilostazol treated OLETF rats than in the non-cilostazol treated OLETF rats (0.021+/-0.0031 vs 0.027+/-0.0036 mL/min). The levels of free fatty acids (2424.8+/-652.7 vs 1061.8+/-223.2 Eq/L), total cholesterol (145.7+/-17.9 vs 115.4+/-7.6 mg/dL) and triglyceride (146.5+/-46.6 vs 76.1+/-12.5 mg/dL) of cilostazol treated OLETF rats were significantly lower than those of non-cilostazol treated OLETF rats. CONCLUSION: This study result suggest that cilostazol may improve the insulin resistance through the improvement of dyslipidemia in OLETF rats.