Source: Diabetes Care  |  Posted 9 years ago

Increased adiponectin levels contribute to the improvement in insulin resistance seen when elderly people with type 2 diabetes take glimepiride.

Researchers from Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan, treated 17 elderly patients with type 2 diabetes with glimepiride for 12 weeks.

After eight weeks treatment, levels of glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) declined from 8.4% at baseline to 6.9%. The homeostasis assessment model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and levels of tumour necrosis factor-alpha also declined.

On the other hand, the metabolic clearance rate of glucose, assessed using a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp, increased. Levels of plasma adiponectin also rose. No marker changed in a control group on normal treatment.

The authors concluded that glimepiride remarkably improved insulin resistance without changing either extrapancreatic beta-cell function or levels of C-peptide in urine. They speculated that the increased levels of adiponectin and reduced concentrations of plasma TNF-alpha might underlie the improved insulin resistance associated with glimepiride.