Beneficial effects of clonidine in streptozotocin-induced diabetes and DOCA-hypertensive rats

Effect of clonidine on blood glucose levels in euglycemic and alloxan-induced diabetic rats and its interaction with glibenclamide

Objectives:

Clonidine, a known antihypertensive, is currently used for many purposes including diabetic gastroparesis, postmenopausal hot flushes, opioid/nicotine/alcohol withdrawal. Its effects on carbohydrate metabolism appear to be variable. Hence, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the influence of clonidine on euglycemic and alloxan -induced diabetic rats and its interaction with glibenclamide.

Materials and Methods:

Alloxan - induced (150 mg/kg, i.p) diabetic rats were divided into six groups of six animals each. Group I - Normal Control; Group II - Nondiabetic + Clonidine (25 μg/kg); Group III - Diabetic Control; Group IV - Diabetic + Glibenclamide (5 mg/kg); Group V - Diabetic + Glibenclamide + Clonidine. All drugs were given orally once daily. Blood glucose was estimated from rat tail vein using glucometer before start of the experiment and at the end of 30 days.

Results:

After 30 days of treatment, clonidine (25 μg/kg) produced significant hyperglycemia in both euglycemic and diabetic rats. It also reduced the hypoglycemic effect of glibenclamide in diabetic rats.

Conclusion:

The results of present study indicate that clonidine has hyperglycemic effect and it also interacts with glibenclamide to reduce its hypoglycemic activity. If these findings are true to human beings then clonidine should not be used in diabetic patients on sulfonylureas.

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids inhibit the accumulation of PAS-positive material in the myocardium of STZ-diabetic wistar rats

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Omega-3 PUFA on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic cardiomyopathy in wistar rats. After 4 weeks of STZ (60 mg/kg, i.v.) administration, the diabetic animals were randomly divided into two groups: Diabetic control and Omega-3 PUFA treated diabetic rats. Omega-3 PUFA (0.5 ml/kg) was administered to the latter group for 10 weeks. Age matched normal rats served as Normal controls. During the study, plasma glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, plasma cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol, triglyerides were evaluated in all the groups. Omega-3 PUFA treatment did not normalise but instead blunted the effect of diabetes with regards to the above parameters significantly (P<0.01). At the end of the experiment, morphometric and histochemical studies were performed on heart and myocardial enzyme markers were studied. In the diabetic control group, diabetic cardiomyopathy was characerised by elevated CPK (DC 110+/-8.85 vs. NC 39+/-5.83) and morphological changes in heart. Gravimetric ratios showed increased heart-to-body weight ratio in diabetic control over normal control group. (DC 3.38+/-0.05 vs. NC 2.48+/-0.03). Histochemical evidence showed increased accumulation of PAS-positive material in myocardial interstitium (++++). The Omega-3 PUFA treatment blunted all these adverse effects of diabetes on heart significantly (P<0.001). However, further studies are warranted to elucidate the mechanism by which Omega-3 PUFA decreases the accumulation of PAS-positive material in diabetic myocardium.

Hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance in hypertension: differential effects of antihypertensive agents

Both hypertension and diabetes mellitus are multifaceted dynamic expressions of pathophysiological disequilibrium that are closely related with and even intermingled by a number of common factors. Hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance may be possible links between hypertension and diabetes mellitus. While working on the effect of different antihypertensive agents in several animal models of simultaneously occurring diabetes-mellitus and hypertension it was found that most antihypertensives prevented streptozotocin (STZ)-induced hypertension in rats. Hydralazine, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, calcium channel blockers (CCB) and clonidine prevented STZ-induced cardiomyopathy, hyperlipidaemia and glucose tolerance. It was further demonstrated that atenolol produced many unfavourable effects like hyperlipidaemia and decreased cardiac functions. We also used other animal models of simultaneously occurring diabetes-mellitus and hypertension such as genetically hypertensive or spontaneously hypertensive (SH), Deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-hypertensive and neonatal streptozotocin-induced NIDDM rats. Results of our studies suggest that SH, neonatal STZ-induced NIDDM, and fructose hypertensive rat models may be considered as models for insulin resistance - the concept that has come into limelight in recent years. DOCA may have some influence on glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity and some sort of counteraction to STZ-induced cardiovascular and metabolic changes occur with DOCA. Hence, it may not be considered as an ideal model to study the metabolic and cardiovascular complications of hypertension associated with diabetes-mellitus. Among ACE inhibitors, perindopril, spirapril, and among calcium channel blockers (CCB) used in our study amlodipine and nifedipine were found to produce an increase in insulin sensitivity. Enalapril, ramipril, lisinopril and nitrendipine failed to alter insulin sensitivity as far as the glycaemic control is concerned. Extension of the results of these experiments to the clinical practice substantiated many of the findings and a good correlation between results obtained from experimental studies and clinical data was found.