Lack of effect of glibenclamide on insulin requirements and diabetic control in persons with insulin-dependent diabetes

• Published in: Medical journal of Australia Vol. 149; no. 9; p. 472
• Main Authors: Stocks, A E, Ma, A, Howlett, V, Cameron, D P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia 07.11.1988
• Subjects: Adult; Blood Glucose - analysis; Clinical Trials as Topic; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - drug therapy; Double-Blind Method; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Glyburide - administration & dosage; Glyburide - pharmacology; Glyburide - therapeutic use; Glycated Hemoglobin A - analysis; Humans; Insulin - administration & dosage; Insulin - therapeutic use; Male; Random Allocation
• ISSN: 0025-729X
• DOI: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1988.tb120732.x

The addition of the sulphonylurea agent, glibenclamide, to the insulin therapy of six patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus was studied in a double-blind cross-over trial. The subjects produced no measurable plasma C-peptide after stimulation with glucagon, weighed within 10% of their ideal body weight and required approximately 1 U/kg per day of insulin. After one month of close supervision while the patients were being managed with diet and insulin therapy alone, glibenclamide, three times a day, or a placebo, was added to the therapy for one month. After a further one-month control period, the alternate agent was administered for one month. No change in the insulin requirement or the glycosylated haemoglobin levels, or in the 24-hour profiles of the plasma glucose and free insulin levels in response to a standard diet, was observed at the end of each treatment period. This study suggests that any enhancement of insulin sensitivity by sulphonylurea treatment in persons with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is only minor and clinically-unimportant.