Endocrine Abstracts

The research included 20 patients of average age 59±8.5 years (ranging from 45 to 75 years of age), of whom there were 8 male patients (40%) and 12 female patients (60%), with average diabetes duration of 4.8±3.16 years. In this group HbA1c levels ranged from 6.6% to 9.4%, while the average BMI level was 30±3.39 kg/m². Prior to the introduction of gliclazide MR with the daily dosage of 30 mg, all the patients had been treated with metformin with the daily dosage of 2000 mg.

Before the new drug was introduced, plasma lipids, glycaemia, plasma insulin and HOMA-IR had been measured in the studied group (glycaemia and plasma insulin being measured before and 2 h after main meals).

After the introduction of gliclazide MR, on the 7th and 14th days glycaemia and plasma insulin were measured before and 2 h after the main meals. HOMA-IR was measured on the same days, while the level of plasma lipids was measured on the 14th day.

Results: In this group of patients, two weeks’ application of gliclazide MR resulted in:

• Statistically highly significant decrease of FPG after 7 and 14 days.

• Statistically highly significant decrease of glycaemia in the course of the day after 7 and 14 days (assessed according to the area under the curve of glycaemia), without plasma insulin levels being increased at the same time.

• Statistically insignificant decrease of postprandial glycaemia as well as HOMA-IR after 7 and 14 days.

• Statistically significant decrease of cholesterol after 14 days.

Conclusion: The short-term application of gliclazide MR in the studied group of patients resulted in significant improvement of glycaemic control (FPG, PPG), without plasma insulin levels being increased at the same time, thus indirectly suggesting possible extrapancreatic effects of the drug.