Influence of Bromocriptine Plus Metformin Treatment on Glycaemia and Blood Pressure in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Background and aims: Bromocriptine is a dopaminergic (D2) agonist that has shown hypoglycemic and normotensive activity in preclinical and clinical studies. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of bromocriptine plus metformin on glycaemia and blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Material and methods: An open-label randomised controlled trial was conducted for three months. It involved two groups (n=10), each containing 2 women and 8 men with an average age of 50 years. One group was given monotherapy (MT) with metformin (850 mg every 12 h) and the other combined therapy (CT) with the same dose of metformin plus an increasing dose of bromocriptine (from 1.25 mg per day to 2.5 mg per day). The parameters monitored were glycaemia, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), serum creatinine, blood pressure, and the body mass index. Results: CT was able to significantly decrease the level of glycaemia, HbA1c and diastolic blood pressure, whereas MT had no effect on any of the measured variables. Conclusions: The ability of CT with bromocriptine and metformin to control glycaemia and produce a normotensive effect reaffirms its advantages for controlling T2DM. Further research is needed to improve this therapeutic strategy.