Effect of gliclazide on diabetic complications: Comparison to glibenclamide by retrospective analysis

Because gliclazide (GCZ), a sulfonylurea with various bioactivities, in addition to insulin-secretagogue activity, including free-radical scavenging, may suppress the development of diabetic microangiopathy, we retrospectively compared the duration from diabetes onset until diagnosis of retinopathy and nephropathy between patients treated with GCZ and those treated with glibenclamide (GBC) as a control by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox's proportional hazard analysis. The duration from onset until diagnosis of retinopathy was significantly longer in the GCZ group. Independent variables affecting prognosis were lower HbA_1c and BMI in the GCZ group but not GCZ or GBC per se. Although the period until diagnosis of microalbuminuria or proteinuria did not differ between groups, proteinuria in patients with diabetes duration of more than 25 years tended to be less frequent in the GCZ group. This study confirmed the preventive effect of good glycemic control on diabetic retinopathy and indicated a relationship between BMI and retinopathy.