Abstract

EFFECT OF FLUOXETINE ON PROGRESSION OF DIABETIC NEUROPATHY (MEASURABLE) IN EXPERIMENTAL RATS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROL INTERVENTIONAL STUDY

Gopal Jhalani*, Harsh Yadav, Manjula Bhargava, Shivankan Kakkar and Vishnu Gupta

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. About 347 million people worldwide have diabetes. Diabetes doubles the risk of Depression. Fluoxetine lowers the blood sugar level as an adverse effect in reported studies, so the present study planned to see the effect of Fluoxetine on blood glucose levels and diabetic neurophathy in diabetes and associated depression. Materials and Methods: Double blind randomized control interventional study performed after clearance from Institutional Animal Ethics Committee at Experimental Pharmacology Laboratory at SMS Medical College, Jaipur. It included 24 rats divided into four groups viz, vehicle control, diabetic control, test group and standard group. Diabetes was induced by a single injection of streptozotocin (70 mg/kg I.p.). Blood sugar levels were evaluated by glucometer. All rats included in the study were observed for 9 weeks. Test group was given Fluoxetine (20 mg/kg, p.o.) whereas standard group received Glibenclamide (0.5 mg/kg p.o.). Unpaired t test and ANOVA test were used to infer the difference in means. Results: Results of treatments with Fluoxetine demonstrated significant (p < 0.05) decrease in blood glucose levels on 30th day and more significant (P< 0.01) decreases in the blood glucose level were observed on 60th day that is comparable to that of standard therapy of Glibenclamide. Also it prevented the progression of Diabetes neuropathy. Conclusion: From the results it was indicative that treatment of Fluoxetine reduced the blood glucose levels as well as prevented progression of diabetic neuropathy in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Fluoxetine also has a well established role in alleviating depression which can be a comorbid condition in diabetes. So it can be concluded that Fluoxetine could offer an alternative role in adjunctive therapy for diabetes with depression.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Blood sugar levels, Diabetic Neuropathy, Fluoxetine, Depression.