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Vildagliptin in addition to metformin improves retinal blood flow and erythrocyte deformability in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus – results from an exploratory study

Overview of attention for article published in Cardiovascular Diabetology, April 2013
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Title
Vildagliptin in addition to metformin improves retinal blood flow and erythrocyte deformability in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus – results from an exploratory study
Published in
Cardiovascular Diabetology, April 2013
DOI 10.1186/1475-2840-12-59
Pubmed ID
Authors

Christine Berndt-Zipfel, Georg Michelson, Markus Dworak, Michael Mitry, Andrea Löffler, Andreas Pfützner, Thomas Forst

Abstract

Numerous rheological and microvascular alterations characterize the vascular pathology in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study investigated effects of vildagliptin in comparison to glimepiride on retinal microvascular blood flow and erythrocyte deformability in T2DM.Fourty-four patients with T2DM on metformin monotherapy were included in this randomized, exploratory study over 24 weeks. Patients were randomized to receive either vildagliptin (50 mg twice daily) or glimepiride individually titrated up to 4 mg in addition to ongoing metformin treatment. Retinal microvascular blood flow (RBF) and the arteriolar wall to lumen ratio (WLR) were assessed using a laser doppler scanner. In addition, the erythrocyte elongation index (EI) was measured at different shear stresses using laserdiffractoscopy.Both treatments improved glycaemic control (p < 0.05 vs. baseline; respectively). While only slight changes in RBF and the WLR could be observed during treatment with glimepiride, vildagliptin significantly increased retinal blood flow and decreased the arterial WLR (p < 0.05 vs. baseline respectively). The EI increased during both treatments over a wide range of applied shear stresses (p < 0.05 vs. baseline). An inverse correlation could be observed between improved glycaemic control (HbA1c) and EI (r = -0.524; p < 0.0001) but not with the changes in retinal microvascular measurements.Our results suggest that vildagliptin might exert beneficial effects on retinal microvascular blood flow beyond glucose control. In contrast, the improvement in erythrocyte deformability observed in both treatment groups, seems to be a correlate of improved glycaemic control.

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Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 71 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Germany 1 1%
Brazil 1 1%
Unknown 69 97%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 13 18%
Researcher 11 15%
Student > Bachelor 10 14%
Other 7 10%
Student > Postgraduate 3 4%
Other 10 14%
Unknown 17 24%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 23 32%
Nursing and Health Professions 9 13%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 6 8%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 4 6%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 3 4%
Other 3 4%
Unknown 23 32%