The effect of different doses of glibenclamide on blood glucose and islet volume in diabetic rats

Diabetes decreases the quality of life and can impair the function of several organs, including eyes, kidneys, and heart. Glibenclamide is a second-line drug for the management of diabetes. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of different doses of glibenclamide on blood glucose and islet volume in an animal model. This experimental study was conducted on 30 adult Wistar rats. The animals were randomly divided into 5 groups of sham control, diabetic control, 2.5 mg/kg glibenclamide, 5 mg/kg glibenclamide, and 10 mg/kg glibenclamide. Diabetes was induced by the intraperitoneal injection of 35 mg/kg streptozotocin with a high-fat diet. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 17) using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc test. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Except for the glibenclamide group receiving 2.5 mg/kg, other experimental groups showed a significant decrease in blood glucose level as compared to the diabetic control group (P=0.00). Comparison of data among different groups showed that diabetes significantly reduced the islet volume (P=0.00). Although all experimental groups showed an increase in the islet volume as compared to the diabetic control group, none of these increases were significant (P> 0.05). As the findings indicated, the treatment of diabetic rats with glibenclamide resulted in the significant reduction of blood glucose level and elevation of the islet volume. These changes were appropriate at the doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg. Furthermore, the results revealed that with an increase in the dose of glibenclamide, no changes occurred in the extent of glibenclamide effect.