Effect of piperine on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of glimepiride in normal and streptozotocin - Induced diabetic rats

Abstract

The effect of piperine on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of glimepiride in normal as well as diabetic rats was studied. In normal and streptozotocin induced diabetic rats the combination of glimepiride with piperine increased all the pharmacokinetic parameters, such as Cmax, AUC0-n, AUCtotal, t1/2, and MRT, and decreased the clearance, Vd, markedly as compared with the control group. In pharmacodynamic studies, the combination of glimepiride with piperine provided significant protection against the diabetes induced alterations in the biochemical parameters. In addition, the combination of glimepiride with piperine also improved the total antioxidant status significantly in diabetic rats compared with piperine and glimepiride treated groups. The results revealed that a combination of glimepiride with piperine led to the enhancement of the bioavailability of glimepiride by inhibiting the CYP2C9 enzyme, which suggested that piperine might be beneficial as an adjuvant to glimepiride in a proper dose, in diabetic patients.