Effects of combination of sibutramine and L-carnitine compared with sibutramine monotherapy on inflammatory parameters in diabetic patients

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of 12-month treatment with sibutramine plus L-carnitine compared with sibutramine alone on body weight, glycemic control, insulin resistance, and inflammatory state in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Two hundred fitly-four patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus (glycated hemoglobin [HbA(1c)] > 8.0%) in therapy with different oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin were enrolled in this study and randomized to take sibutramine 10 mg plus L-carnitine 2 g or sibutramine 10 mg in monotherapy. We evaluated at baseline and after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months these parameters: body weight, body mass index, HbA(1c), fasting plasma glucose, postprandial plasma glucose, fasting plasma insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, leptin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, adiponectin, vaspin, and highsensitivity C-reactive protein. Sibutramine plus L-carnitine gave a faster improvement of fasting plasma glucose, postprandial plasma glucose, lipid profile, leptin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein compared with sibutramine alone. Furthermore, there was a better improvement of body weight, HbA(1c), fasting plasma insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index, vaspin, and adiponectin with sibutramine plus L-camitine compared with sibutramine alone. Sibutramine plus L-carnitine gave a better and faster improvement of all the analyzed parameters compared with sibutramine alone without giving any severe adverse effect. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.