Blood Glucose Concentration, Pancreatic Histology and Insulin-Expression following Metformin and Glibenclamide Administration in Diabetic Rats

Abstract

Introduction: Introduction: Metformin and glibenclamide are used in the management of type 2 diabetes. There is paucity of information on the efficacy of insulin expression by these antidiabetic drugs. Aim: This study investigated the hypoglycemic, pancreatic histomorphological and insulin alterations following administration of metformin and glibenclamide in a type 2 diabetic model. Materials and Methods: Thirty Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups of 5 animals each. Two groups served as normal and diabetic controls respectively. Diabetes was induced with streptozotocin (STZ). Two diabetic groups received 1.43 and 2.86 mg metformin per kg (body weight, bw), while another 2 groups received 0.07 and 0.14 mg glibenclamide per kg bw respectively. Treatments lasted for 4 weeks, after which animals were fasted over-night before determination of final blood glucose levels. Pancreas was dissected for histological study. Results: Hypoglycemic effect of glibenclamide was higher than that of metformin. The histological features of glibenclamidetreated rats demonstrated severe distortions, while metformin-treated rats had mild distortions of the pancreatic islets.Insulin expression was strongly enhanced by metformin than by glibenclamide. Conclusion:The findings of this research may suggest the use of metformin as better alternative to glibenclamide in the amelioration of hyperglycemia, especially in the long term.