pantetheine and Diabetes-Mellitus

After a review of the clinical studies on the treatment of diabetic patients with pantethine, the authors discuss the results obtained in a postmarketing surveillance (PMS) study on 1045 hyperlipidemic patients receiving pantethine (900 mg/day on average). Of these patients, 57 were insulin-dependent (Type I) and 241 were non insulin-dependent (Type II) diabetics. Beyond the epidemiological considerations made possible by a PMS study, the authors show that pantethine brought about a statistically significant and comparable improvement of lipid metabolism in the three groups of patients, with very good tolerability. Pantethine should therefore be considered for the treatment of lipid abnormalities also in patients at risk such as those with diabetes mellitus.

Topics: Arteriosclerosis; Diabetes Mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Female; Humans; Hyperlipoproteinemias; Male; Middle Aged; Pantetheine; Product Surveillance, Postmarketing; Sulfhydryl Compounds

Pantethine in a dosage of 600 mg for the first 3 months, and in a dosage of 1200 mg for the second 6 months was given to 16 diabetics in whom plasma beta-thromboglobulin was raised (greater than 50 ng/ml). Plasma beta-TG levels decreased significantly with pantethine treatment for 9 months. Plasma triglyceride, total cholesterol, apo E and apo CII levels decreased significantly after 9 months. Plasma LDL-C and atherogenic index (LDL-C/HDL-C ratio or apo B/apo AI ratio) tended to decrease with treatment. It is concluded that administration of pantethine may be beneficial in the prevention of diabetic angiopathy because of its lowering effect on plasma beta-TG, lipids and apolipoproteins.

Topics: Adult; Aged; beta-Thromboglobulin; Diabetes Mellitus; Female; Humans; Hyperlipidemias; Hypoglycemic Agents; Hypolipidemic Agents; Lipids; Male; Middle Aged; Pantetheine; Sulfhydryl Compounds

The in vivo effects of pantethine were investigated on serum lipids and platelet lipid and platelet functions in 31 diabetic patients with hyperlipidemia. Pantethine decreased cholesterol from 236 +/- 62 mg/dl (M +/- SD) to 217 +/- 51 mg/dl (p less than 0.01) and increased high density lipoprotein cholesterol from 40 +/- 11mg/dl to 43 +/- 15 mg/dl. The diabetic platelets were larger when accompanied by higher microviscosity that healthy platelets. The characteristics of lipid composition in diabetic platelets were high levels of free cholesterol, phospholipid, triglyceride, cholesterol ester, palmitoleic acid, linoleic acid and palmitoleic acid/palmitic acid and low levels of the molar ratio of free cholesterol/phospholipids, phosphatidylethanolamine, oleic acid, arachidonic acid and oleic acid/stearic acid. Pantethine normalized these values of fatty acids to the control levels, and concomitantly reduced significantly the hyperaggregation of platelets induced by 10(6) M ADP and the hyper-ADP release reaction from platelets when exposed to 2 microgram of collagen, and made the volume smaller and the microviscosity lower after oral administration. From these data, it was concluded that pantethine normalized the abnormalities of serum lipids as well as platelet lipid compositions and subsequently reduced the hyper-aggregation and hyper-release reactions through the changes of volume and microviscosity of the platelets in diabetes mellitus with hyperlipidemia.

Topics: Blood Platelets; Blood Viscosity; Diabetes Complications; Diabetes Mellitus; Female; Humans; Hyperglycemia; Lipids; Male; Pantetheine; Platelet Adhesiveness; Platelet Aggregation; Sulfhydryl Compounds