December 12, 2013

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

In a new study from researchers at at Washington University School of Medicine, the type 2 diabetes drug metformin was found to have different effects on the hearts of men and women, despite managing blood sugar the same in both sexes.

According to the study, which was published in the December issue of the American Journal of Physiology Heart and Circulatory Physiology, the drug had positive effects on womens heart health, but male patients saw a change in heart function associated with increased risk for heart failure.

We saw dramatic sex differences in how the heart responds to the different therapies, said study author Robert J. Gropler, a professor of radiology at WUStL. Our study suggests that we need to better define which therapies are optimal for women with diabetes and which ones are optimal for men.

The pancreas continues to make insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes, but the body isnt able to effectively use it to draw glucose out of the blood and into the tissues. Type 2 diabetes is also linked to an increased risk for heart failure.

It is imperative that we gain understanding of diabetes medications and their impact on the heart in order to design optimal treatment regimens for patients, said study author Dr. Janet B. McGill, also a professor of medicine at WUStL. This study is a step in that direction.

In the study, researchers looked at commonly prescribed diabetes drugs in 78 patients. The study participants were divided into one of three groups: those receiving metformin alone, those receiving metformin and rosiglitazone (Avandia) and those receiving metformin plus Lovaza, a form of fish oil.

While metformin reduces glucose production by the liver, rosiglitazone is known to draw free fatty acids out of the blood. Both drugs boost the bodys sensitivity to insulin. Lovaza is prescribed to reduce levels of fatty triglycerides in the blood.

The three groups did not exhibit any major differences in heart metabolism. However, when the patients were divided by sex, the drugs were seen as having different and sometimes opposite effects on heart metabolism.

Original post:
Men’s and Women’s Hearts React Differently to Diabetes Drug