An alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, voglibose, reduces oxidative stress markers and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 in obese type 2 diabetic patients.

Postprandial hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia are considered risk factors for cardiovascular disease. This study was designed to elucidate whether improving the postprandial state by voglibose, an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, leads to the reduction of oxidative stress markers and soluble adhesion molecules in obese type 2 diabetic patients. A total of 30 Japanese obese type 2 diabetic patients were randomly assigned and treated for 3 weeks with either diet alone (the control group) or diet plus voglibose (0.9 mg daily) (the voglibose group) (n=15 each). Analysis of the diurnal metabolic profiles revealed a significant reduction of postprandial hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia in the voglibose group relative to the control group (P<.05), despite the similar improvement in body mass index and hemoglobin A(1c) in both groups. Voglibose also decreased significantly the plasma levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 and urinary excretion of 8-iso-prostaglandin F(2)alpha and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (P<.01) and C-reactive protein (P<.05) relative to the control group. In conclusion, this study represents the first demonstration that voglibose reduces oxidative stress generation and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 in parallel with the reduction of postprandial hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia in obese type 2 diabetic patients.