ACIPIMOX ATTENUATES HYPERTRIGLYCERIDEMIA IN DYSLIPIDEMIC NONINSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES-MELLITUS PATIENTS WITHOUT PERTURBATION OF INSULIN SENSITIVITY AND GLYCEMIC CONTROL

Hyperlipidemia, hypertriglyceridemia in particular, is a common featur e in patients with noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and may associate with insulin insensitivity. Acipimox, being widely presc ribed for treating hypertriglyceridemia, is also used in NIDDM patient s for their dyslipidemia. In the present study, we evaluated the effec t of acipimox in Chinese NIDDM patients with hypertriglyceridemia. A t otal of 16 patients enrolled in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-co ntrolled and two-period crossover study. After an 8 week run-in period , patients were randomly assigned into two groups receiving either aci pimox (250 mg, twice daily) or placebo treatment. A total of 12 weeks later, these two groups switched their treatment for an additional 12 weeks. Blood samples were collected at the end of the run-in period an d then at 4-week intervals in the whole study for lipid profile. A mod ified insulin suppression test was performed at the ends of the run-in period, 12-week and 24-week treatment to assess changes in insulin se nsitivity. Our results showed that acipimox significantly lowered seru m total triglyceride while compared to those by placebo. However, no d ifference was observed in serum non-esterified fatty acid, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol (TC), high density lipopro tein-cholesterol (HDL-C) and HDL-C/TC ratio between the two groups. Fu rthermore, glycemic indices and insulin sensitivity were similar durin g the base-line, placebo or acipimox periods. Taken together, our data suggest that acipimox significantly lowered TG without perturbation o f insulin sensitivity in hypertriglyceridemic NIDDM patients. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.