Metformin Effects on Oxidative Stress Parameters in Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes Patients
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2011-09-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Oxidative stress plays a key role in the pathogenesis of diabetes complications. Chronic
hyperglycemia and disturbed lipid regulation commonly seen in diabetes are the main causes of
this process. Despite the critical role of oxidative stress in diabetes, most clinical trials
with available antioxidants and vitamins have either failed to show any long term benefits or
have produced inconsistent results (10-11). There has been growing interest in establishing
the possible roles of oral hypoglycemic agents including Metformin in reduction of oxidative
stress. Metformin, the most common prescribed oral medication in type 2 diabetes, lowers
HbA1c around 1.5%, rarely causes hypoglycemia (compared with insulin or sulfonylureas), has
relatively few contraindications, its adverse effects are generally tolerable, does not cause
weight gain, is cheap, and is highly acceptable among patients. Given the long term benefits
observed with metformin use, a role in modulating oxidative stress is imputable. We designed
this study to evaluate the actions of metformin on oxidative stress in a group of
medication-naïve newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients.