Glimepiride Treatment and IGF-I in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes
A prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study
- Stefan A. Wudy, MD1,
- Josef Högel, PHD2,
- Barbara Dollinger, MD3,
- Primus Mullis, MD3 and
- Eberhard Heinze, MD1
- 1Children’s Hospital, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- 2Department of Biometrics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- 3Children’s Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Serum IGF-I is reduced in adolescents with type 1 diabetes, and injections of IGF-I improve glycemic control (1). The fact that sulfonylureas can increase IGF-I directly and independent of insulin has not been included in standard literature (2). The first observation of a stimulatory effect on serum IGF-I was made in hypophysectomized rats (3). In in vitro experiments, glibenclamide stimulated growth of human chondrocytes via IGF-I and independent of insulin (4). Glibenclamide and glimepiride had dose-dependent stimulatory effects on IGF-I transcription and production in human liver cells (HuH7) (5).
We recruited 40 pubertal patients with type 1 diabetes of a duration of >1 year (negative for C-peptide) at Ulm (n = 20) and Bern (n = 20). …
