Possible effects of glimepiride beyond glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes: a preliminary report

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to elucidate the effects of glimepiride on the levels of biomarkers related to cardiovascular regulation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods and results: Thirty-four patients with type 2 diabetes received glimepiride for 24 weeks. Significant decreases in the levels of glyceraldehyde-derived advanced glycation end products, (glycer-AGE: toxic AGE), eotaxin and fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2 were recognized after the administration of glimepiride. Moreover, there were trends for there to be increases in the levels of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and decreases in the levels of fractalkine, soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-β, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and soluble receptor for AGE (sRAGE).

Conclusions: Glimepiride may have potent anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and angiogenic properties and it may potentially repair tissue damage by decreasing the levels of toxic AGE and increasing colony-stimulating factors.

Figure 1

Participant flow.

Figure 2

The changes in the levels of fasting plasma glucose (a), HbA1c (b), fasting plasma insulin (c), HOMA-R (d) and HOMA-β (e) after the treatment with glimepiride. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 versus before treatment. HbA1c = hemoglobin A1c, HOMA = homeostasis model assessment.

Figure 3

The changes in the serum or plasma levels of G-CSF (a), GM-CSF (b), eotaxin (c), FGF-2 (d), VEGF (e), soluble CD40 ligand (f), fractalkine (g), MIP-β (h), glycer-AGEs (i) and sRAGE (j) by the treatment with glimepiride. Open bars indicate "before treatment" and solid bars indicate "after treatment". *p < 0.05 versus before treatment. G-CSF = granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, GM-CSF = granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor, FGF = fibroblast growth factor, VEGF = vascular endothelial growth factor, MIP = macrophage inflammatory protein, glycer-AGE = glyceraldehyde-derived advanced glycation end products, sRAGE = soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products.