Effect on platelet adhesiveness in diabetics after long-term treatment with a new oral hypoglycaemic agent, gliclazide.

Gliclazide is an oral hypoglycaemic agent which has been shown in animal models to reduce platelet adhesiveness. In this study, 50 patients with maturity onset diabetes treated with gliclazide (80 mg/day) were followed up for 6 months to 1 year to assess the effect on platelet adhesiveness and control of blood sugar. A significant fall in mean platelet adhesiveness from 29% before treatment to 19.5% after 1 year (p less than 0.001) was achieved without any deleterious effect on normal haemostasis. The drug was well tolerated and achieved a satisfactory control of blood sugar levels at the dosages used.