Effect of glycyrrhizine on hyperkalemia due to hyporeninemic hypoaldosteronism in diabetes mellitus.

Liquorice extract has been claimed to induce inhibition of the activity of 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase which converts cortisol to cortisone. This enzyme is thought to protect the mineralocorticoid receptor from being occupied by endogeneous glucocorticoids in the kidney. Based on these hypotheses, we investigated the effect of low-dose glycyrrhizine on hyperkalemia due to hyporeninemic hypoaldosteronism in eight subjects with NIDDM. The mean serum potassium concentration decreased from 5.3 +/- 0.3 (SD) mEq/1 to 4.9 +/- 0.2 mEq/1 when 15 g of calcium polystyrene sulfonate, a potassium-binding resin, was given per day, and it decreased significantly to 4.4 +/- 0.4 mEq/1 with 150 mg/day of glycyrrhizine therapy. Changes in fasting plasma glucose and hemoglobin A1c were not significant. These data support the assumption that liquorice extract can be used safely in the therapy for treating hyperkalemia due to selective hypoaldosteronism in diabetes mellitus subjects.