title: Drug-induced reversal of early diabetic microangiopathy.
abstract: We performed three oral glucose-tolerance tests and three muscle biopsies over a period of approximately three years in 41 asymptomatic patients with chemical diabetes. At base line, 13 (32 per cent) had an increased capillary basement-membrane width in muscle. Twenty-three patients received glipizide, a new oral hypoglycemic compound, and 18 received placebo. In the patients receiving placebo the mean width of the muscle capillary basement membrane increased from 135.9 +/- 9.0 nm (S.E.M.) to 169.3 +/- 9.5 nm (P = 0.01), but in those receiving glipizide the value decreased to a level no different from that in subjects without diabetes: from 152.9 +/- 2.9 to 127.5 +/- 5.1 nm (P = 0.01). These findings suggest that microangiopathy, as indicated by an increased capillary basement-membrane width in muscle, may be present in a considerable number of patients with asymptomatic diabetes and that the changes can be reversed by early drug treatment.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D002196:Capillaries / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005913:Glipizide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009132:Muscles / Q000098:blood supply; D011236:Prediabetic State / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D013453:Sulfonylurea Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D013453:Sulfonylurea Compounds; D005913:Glipizide