Hypoglycemia in patients receiving disopyramide phosphate

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Clinical Medicine
• Endocrinology

Background:

• Postmarketing surveillance identified hypoglycemia risk with disopyramide phosphate (Norpace) use for ventricular arrhythmias.
• Elderly patients and those with hepatic or renal impairment may be at increased risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential glucoregulatory effect of disopyramide in humans.
• To assess the impact of disopyramide on glucose levels in both fed and fasted states.

Main Methods:

• A clinical study involving nine healthy male volunteers dosed to steady-state disopyramide concentration.
• A placebo-controlled study with 11 healthy male subjects examining glucose levels under fed and fasted conditions.

Main Results:

• Disopyramide administration suggested a glucoregulatory effect in humans.
• A statistically significant decrease in glucose levels was observed in both fed and fasted states.
• No classical signs or symptoms of hypoglycemia were reported in the clinical studies.

Conclusions:

• Disopyramide phosphate may possess a glucoregulatory effect, leading to decreased glucose levels.
• While statistically significant, the observed glucose decrease did not manifest as clinical hypoglycemia in healthy subjects.
• Further research is warranted to fully elucidate the clinical significance of disopyramide's effect on glucose metabolism.