EFFECT OF PIOGLITAZONE ON LIPID PROFILE IN TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effect of pioglitazone on lipid profile in type 2 diabetic patients treated andfollowed up for three months after initiation of therapy.

Methodology: This hospital based quasi-experimental study was conducted in the medical B unit, LadyReading Hospital Peshawar from July 2008 to June 2009. A total of 161 patients with type 2 diabetesmellitus were included in this study using convenient (non-probability) sampling. Clinical and laboratoryevaluation of all the patients were done to note the change in lipid profile after the use of 30 mgpioglitazone. Continuous variables such as age and lipid profile (triglycerides; Low DensityLipoprotien[LDL]; High Density Lipoprotien[HDL]; cholesterol) at baseline and after 3 months time wereexpressed as mean ± S.D. Paired sample t-test was used to analyze the mean difference in pre-post labinvestigation by SPSS version15.

Results: Out of the 161 patients, 79(49.1%) were males and 82(50.9%) were females. The mean age of thesample was 51.2±11.33 years. Triglycerides decreased from 219.2±34.4 to 189.2±33.7 mg/dl with a meandifference of 29.9 mg/dl (p<0.001). Total cholesterol changed from 201.4±29.8 to 203.2±28.9 mg/dl with amean difference of 1.8mg/dl (p<0.001). LDL changed from 153.7±21.1 to 154.7±20.7 mg/dl with a meandifference of 0.9 mg/dl (p<0.001). HDL increased from 37.2±2.9 to 41.5±3.1 mg/dl with a mean differenceof 4.3 mg/dl (p<0.001).

Conclusions: Pioglitazone was found to have beneficial effects on lipid profile. It significantly reduced thelevels of triglycerides and increased levels of HDL cholesterol in patients with Type 2 diabetes.