The potential beneficial role of glucagon-like peptide-1 in endothelial dysfunction and heart failure associated with insulin resistance

Endothelial dysfunction is a major characteristic of the atherosclerotic process and call be used to predict the outcome of cardiovascular disease in humans. Together with obesity and insulin resistance, Such dysfunction is common among patients with type 2 diabetes and may explain their poor prognosis in connection with such a disease. Insulin resistance in skeletal Muscle, adipose tissue, and the liver, a well-characterized feature of obesity and type 2 diabetes, contributes to the impairment of glucose homeostasis. Furthermore, the myocardial Muscle call also be resistant to insulin, which might, at least in part, explain the frequent development of heart failure ill individuals Suffering from type 2 diabetes. The relationship between Insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction has prompted investigations, which reveal that regular exercise, dietary changes, and/or pharmacological agents call both increase insulin sensitivity and improve endothelial function. Glucagon-like peptide-1, an incretin, lowers blood levels of glucose and offers a promising new approach to the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Its extensive extra- pancreatic effects, including a favorable influence on cardiovascular parameters, are extremely interesting in this connection. The potential pharmacological effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 and its analogues oil the endothelium and the heart are discussed in the present review.