Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition reduces food intake and weight gain and improves glucose tolerance in melanocortin-4 receptor deficient female rats.

Functional loss of melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) activity leads to hyperphagia and an obese, glucose intolerant phenotype. We have previously established that inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) reduces food intake, body weight and glucose homeostasis in diet-induced obesity. The current study assessed the effect of ACE inhibitor treatment in MC4R-deficient female rats on body weight, adiposity and glucose tolerance. Rats homozygous (HOM) for a loss of function Mc4r mutation had an obese phenotype relative to their wildtype (WT) littermates. Inhibition of ACE for 8weeks produced reductions in body weight gain in both HOM and WT rats; however, food intake was only reduced in HOM rats. Weight loss following ACE inhibitor treatment was specific to fat mass while lean mass was unaffected. HOM rats were severely glucose intolerant and insensitive to exogenous insulin injection, and treatment with an ACE inhibitor improved both glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in HOM rats although not fully to that of the level of WT rats. The current study indicates that HOM rats are sensitive to the anorectic effects of ACE inhibition, unlike their WT littermates. This resulted in a more rapid reduction in body weight gain and a more substantial loss of adipose mass in HOM animals, relative to WT animals, treated with an ACE inhibitor. Overall, these data demonstrate that MC4R signaling is not required for weight loss following treatment with an ACE inhibitor.