Assessment of Toxicological Effects of Selected Popular Antidiabetic Drugs in Type II Diabetes Mellitus within Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria

Aim: The complications associated with diabetes and the new trend of using combination therapy in the management of the disease gave birth to this work, aimed at assessing the hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic effects of selected popularly used antidiabetic medications in type 2 diabetic patients within Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Study Design: The participants, diabetic (n=195) and non-diabetic (n=30) were divided into the following groups based on their medications: 1 (Non Diabetic control), 2 (Metformin), 3 (Glimepiride), 4 (Glibenclamide), 5 (Metformin and Glimepiride), 6 (Meformin and Glibenclamide), 7 (Metformin, Glimepiride and Glibenclamide) and 8 (Diabetic Dietary control).

Methodology: Serum protein expression profiling, liver and kidney function parameters were assessed in participant’s blood using Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and standard laboratory methods respectively.

Results: Glyceamic control within the diabetic groups was 29.23%. Urea concentration was significantly increased (p < 0.05) in groups 5 and 7 compared with groups 1 and 8 while the serum creatinine levels in the different groups showed no significant difference. Activities of alkaline phosphatase and aspartate aminotransferase increased significantly (p < 0.05) in group 5 compared with groups 1 and 8. A low molecular weight protein likely to be Leptin (molecular weight 18 kDa) was over-expressed in all the diabetic groups.

Conclusion: This study shows that use of multiple rather than single drugs caused significant functional changes in the liver and kidney. The control of diabetes may best be carried out with dietary control and lifestyle modification as well as good therapeutic drug monitoring for safe assessment of baseline organ function.