Long-term effect of pindolol on plasma lipids, apoproteins A, blood glucose, and serum insulin levels.

The present investigation was designed to study the effect of 12-month therapy with pindolol on serum lipids, apoproteins A, insulin, and blood glucose levels. The concentration of serum HDL-cholesterol was increased (P less than 0.05) during the 1st month of therapy. The ratio of HDL-cholesterol to total cholesterol increased slightly during therapy, but this increase was significant (P less than 0.05) only after 6 months. The total serum cholesterol level was lower (p less than 0.05) after 6 months than after 1 month of therapy. The concentrations of LDL-cholesterol showed a slight tendency to decrease during treatment. The concentrations of serum free fatty acids and triglycerides remained about constant during treatment. No significant changes in the concentrations of apolipoproteins A-I and A-II were found during the therapy with pindolol. Fasting blood glucose concentrations did not show a significant change after 12-month treatment with pindolol. During the oral glucose tolerance test, blood glucose values were raised after pindolol therapy slightly at 60 and significantly at 120 min. No significant changes in the levels of serum insulin during the glucose tolerance test were found after treatment with pindolol. Pindolol may induce glucose intolerance without impairment in insulin release. A comparison of the results of this study with previous reports on other beta blockers suggests that pindolol might have fewer untoward effects on lipid metabolism than other beta blockers.