Candesartan Cilexetil

How angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers (ARBs) reduce type 2 diabetes incidence was investigated in this study. Obese rats on a high‑fat diet received candesartan cilexetil and showed improved glucose tolerance and whole‑body insulin sensitivity measured by hyperinsulinemic‑euglycemic clamp, with a higher glucose infusion rate than untreated controls. Mechanistically, candesartan significantly increased PPARγ protein expression in both adipose tissue and liver. The authors conclude that candesartan cilexetil prevents diet‑induced insulin resistance through PPARγ activation, independent of its angiotensin II blocking effects, suggesting utility in metabolic syndrome.

Fig. 1 Effect of candesartan cilexetil on (A) glucose responses during the OGTT and (B) glucose AUC. (Yan WH, et al., 2016)

This randomized, open-label, three-period crossover study compared the pharmacokinetics and safety of fixed-dose combination (FDC) tablets containing candesartan cilexetil/amlodipine/atorvastatin at two strengths (16/10/40 mg and 16/5/20 mg) versus co-administration of individual formulations in healthy volunteers. For all three components, the geometric mean ratios for Cmax and AUClast of the FDC versus individual formulations fell within the bioequivalence ranges (with reference-scaled average bioequivalence applied for atorvastatin Cmax due to high variability). No clinically significant safety differences were observed. The authors conclude that both FDC strengths are bioequivalent to co-administration of the individual components, supporting their use as combination therapy for cardiovascular disease.

Fig. 2 Study design. (Kim JH, et al., 2024)