Gliclazide-induced hepatitis, hemiplegia and dysphasia in a suicide attempt

The drugs used to treat diabetes mellitus are diverse and include several c lasses. One class is sulfonylureas which primarily cause serum glucose redu ction by stimulating the release of preformed insulin from the pancreatic i slets. Gliclazide, a second generation sulfonylurea, is used to control gly cemic levels in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. We report a 14 yea r-old non-diabetic girl who developed hepatitis, hemiplegia and dysphasia a fter ingestion of an overdose of gliclazide (20 mg/kg/day) in a suicide att empt. Our purpose is to draw attention to the severity of gliclazide-induce d neurological signs. To the best of our knowledge, gliclazide-induced hemi plegia and dysphasia have not been previously reported in the literature.