Comparison of diabetic control in Type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetic patients treated with different sulphonylureas

Summary

Diabetic control was compared in groups of Type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetic patients treated concurrently for 1 year with five different sulphonylurea drugs: chlorpropamide (21), glipizide (24), gliquidone (22), gliclazide (22) and glibenclamide (23). Glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA₁) levels decreased in all groups over the first 2 months, but tended to level off or increase thereafter. In a total of 96 patients assessed after 1 year, gliclazide produced normal HbA₁ levels in a significantly greater number of patients than chlorpropamide (p=0.01) and gliquidone (p=0.038), and glibenclamide was also significantly better than chlorpropamide (p=0.02). Significant improvements in HbA₁ were produced overall in the gliquidone (p<0.01), gliclazide (p<0.01) and glibenclamide (p<0.02) groups and the gliquidone and gliclazide groups were significantly better than the glipizide group (p<0.01 in both cases). Only the glibenclamide group had a significant change in weight (p<0.05). There may be differences between different sulphonylureas which could be of clinical advantage in certain patients.

Key Words::

• Sulphonylurea compounds
• hypoglycaemic agents
• diabetes mellitus