Therapeutic effect of a combination of caffeine and glibenclamide on serum glucose and lipids in type 2 diabetic rats

Background and Objective: The glucose metabolism improvement and the risk reduction of the diabetes type 2 by caffeine consumers have been reported. Today, glibenclamide is commonly used in the treatment of diabetes. This research aimed to investigate the therapeutic combination effect of caffeine and glibenclamide on serum lipids and glucose in type 2 diabetic rats.

Materials and Methods: In this research study, 32 rats in four groups were divided into diabetic and diabetics treated with glibenclamide, caffeine, and caffeine-glibenclamide combination. The drug dose for glibenclamide was 0.285 mg/kg, for caffeine was 100 mg/kg and for their combination was 1:1. Diabetes was induced by the injection of a single dose of 60 mg/kg of streptozotocin. The treatment continued for 16 days after diabetes verification. The levels of serum glucose and lipid profile in the rats were measured at the end of the period.

Results: The present research showed that the combination of glibenclamide and caffeine with 50% effective dose could significantly decrease the serum glucose as compared to the control group at days 4, 9 and 16 (p < 0.05). The combination resulted in a significant reduction in triglyceride and a significant increase of HDL and HDL to LDL ratio, while these changes were not observed for glibenclamide or caffeine individually.

Conclusion: The therapeutic combination of glibenclamide and caffeine improved the serum glucose and could have significant beneficial effects on the level of triglyceride and HDL cholesterol levels in the diabetic rats.