SATURDAY, June 15, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- A popular diabetes drug that sensitizes insulin may also ward off heart disease associated with the disease because it seems to reduces inflammation.
The findings on the small study of rosiglitazone, by University of Buffalo (UB) endocrinologists, were presented today in San Francisco at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association.
Diabetes is a known risk factor for developing heart disease and atherosclerosis, also known as the hardening of the arteries.
The UB team's study included 11 obese people with type II (adult-onset) diabetes, a disease in which the body produces adequate amounts of insulin, but cells don't use it well. Rosiglitazone is used to counter this resistance.
The researchers collected blood samples from the study participants and then started them on a six-week course of daily rosiglitazone. The blood sampling was repeated four times over the six weeks of drug treatment and then again at 12 weeks.
The blood was analyzed for concentrations of substances that indicate inflammation and for the presence of oxygen free radicals, which can begin the inflammation of blood vessel walls.
The blood samples revealed that rosiglitazone greatly reduced oxygen free radicals and several other inflammation indicators. At six weeks, researchers said there was a 34 percent decline in the generation of oxygen free radicals.
The study was funded by GlaxoSmithKline, which makes rosiglitazone under the brand name Avandia.
More information
This Web page from the American Diabetes Association gives the latest information on the link between diabetes and heart disease and stroke.
