A STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF PYRIDOSTIGMINE ON BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS IN DEXAMETHASONE INDUCED DIABETIC ALBINO RATS.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic and progressive disease. It is characterised by the presence of both insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. At present, the management of T2DM include diet, lifestyle modification and oral hypoglycaemic drugs. Acetylcholine stimulates the release of insulin and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) from pancreas. PP inhibits gastric emptying rate, decreases food intake and enhances insulin sensitivity. Pyridostigmine acts by increasing the availability of acetylcholine at the cholinergic receptors. Methods: Thirty adult Wistar albino rats weighing 200-350g, of either sex were taken into study and divided into 5 groups of 6 animals each. 1.Normal control 2. Dexamethasone control 3. Pyridostigmine control 4. Metformin+Dexamethasone 5.Pyridostigmine+Dexamethasone. Distilled water was given per orally to group1 for 7 days and group2 for initial 4 days. Dexamethasone was given to group 2, 4 and 5 intraperitoneally for the last 3 days. Metformin to group 4 and pyridostigmine to group 3 and 5 were given per orally. Oral glucose tolerance test was performed on 5th and 7th day at 0, 60 and 120 min time interval using a glucometer. Results: Both metformin and pyridostigmine showed fall in blood glucose levels. But metformin showed reduced levels at all the time intervals compared to pyridostigmine. Conclusions: Although pyridostigmine showed hypoglycaemic activity in dexamethasone induced hyperglycaemia in rats but metformin showed better antihyperglycemic effect