Determination of gliclazide minimum concentration in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a worldwide health problem. Many drugs can be used in its treatment. One of them is gliclazide - the sulfonylurea derivative. It is dosed in modified release tablets. The study aimed to determine the minimum steady-state concentration of gliclazide at patients taking modified release tablets. Fasting plasma glucose, insulin level, and glycated hemoglobin were also assayed in this study. Ten patients of the primary care physician clinic took 30-90 mg of gliclazide daily. The statistical analysis proved that there is a statistically significant correlation between insulin level and body weight (p = 0.044) as well as between the dose and gliclazide concentrations (p = 0.015) and also between insulin level and minimum concentration of the drug (p = 0.0074). The linear correlation between dose and gliclazide's minimum steady state concentration proved its linear pharmacokinetics. The correlation between the minimum concentration of gliclazide and insulin level might be a potential predictor of patients compliance.