Comparative Effects of Glibenclamide and Metformin on C-Reactive Protein and Oxidant/Antioxidant Status in Patients with Type II Diabetes Mellitus.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to compare the effects of metformin and glibenclamide on high sensitivity serum C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and oxidative stress, represented by serum malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant status (TAS) in newly-diagnosed patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) at baseline and after 2 months of therapy in comparison to controls.

METHODS

The subjects, recruited from Al-Wafaa Centre for Diabetes Management and Research, Iraq, November 2009 to January 2011, were 103 newly-diagnosed Type 2 DM patients; 53 were prescribed metformin and 50 glibenclamide. The control group was 40 apparently healthy volunteers. Blood samples were taken from all subjects after overnight fasting. Sera were separated and assays of hs-CRP, MDA and TAS were done. After 2 months monotherapy, the blood samples and assays were repeated.

RESULTS

There were significant differences between patients prescribed metformin and glibenclamide and the controls with regard to serum hs-CRP, MDA and TAS. There was a significant reduction in the serum MDA and a significant raise in the serum TAS levels, with no significant effects on serum hs-CRP levels after metformin therapy, but no significant effects on these parameters after glibenclamide therapy. The percentage of variation in these parameters after both drugs, showed a significant raise in serum TAS levels with the metformin therapy with no significant effects in serum MDA and hs-CRP.

CONCLUSION

Metformin positively affected the oxidant/antioxidant balance in newly-diagnosed Type 2 DM patients with no significant effects on acute phase reaction protein. Glibenclamide had no significant effects on oxidant/antioxidant balance and acute phase reaction protein.