Effects of glibenclamide on serum lipids, lipoproteins, thromboxane, beta-thromboglobulin, and prostacyclin in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

A study was conducted to determine the effects of glibenclamide on serum lipoproteins, apolipoproteins, thromboxane (TXA2), prostacyclin (PGI2), and beta-thromboglobulin (B-TGL) in patients with newly diagnosed non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). In 20 NIDDM patients, aged 34 to 67 (mean, 53.6) years, without clinical signs of atherosclerotic disease and whose blood sugar level was over 140 mg/dl after four weeks of dietary treatment, fasting blood samples were taken before the beginning of the trial, after four weeks of dietary treatment, and after four and eight weeks of combined dietary and glibenclamide treatment. Pretrial levels of total serum cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in the diabetic patients did not differ from those in nondiabetic controls, whereas high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and the percentage of TC bound to HDL (HDL-C%) were significantly lower in the patients than in controls. After combined dietary and glibenclamide treatment and the normalization of blood sugar, both HDL-C (mg/dl) levels and HDL-C% levels increased significantly. TC, TG, and LDL-C levels decreased. Levels of apolipoproteins A1 and A2 rose and apolipoprotein B fell, but differences were not significant. TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1-alpha (the inert metabolites of TXA2 and PGI2) and B-TGL were determined by radioimmunoassay. TXB2 and B-TGL levels decreased significantly after glibenclamide administration, indicating attenuation of platelet aggregation. No changes in PGI2 were observed. The results demonstrate the favorable effect of glibenclamide on lipoproteins and apolipoproteins in NIDDM patients, especially in increasing HDL-C levels and HDL-C%, and in attenuating platelet aggregation as indicated by reduction of TXB2 and B-TGL.