The β-cell effect of verapamil-based treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes: a systematic review.

AIMS: The possibility that verapamil has new beneficial effects in diabetic patients in terms of an improvement in glycometabolic control has been put forward recently in several studies. However, to date the issue is still under debate. We conducted the first systematic review examining the impact of verapamil-based treatment on glycometabolic outcomes, in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients.

METHODS

We searched the PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane and ClinicalTrials.gov up to 9 October 2018, for all studies evaluating whether verapamil-based treatment is associated with changes in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose levels, glucose and C-peptide areas from baseline in humans, without restrictions for study type.

RESULTS

Plasma glucose levels were lowered significantly by verapamil-based treatment in patients with T2D (mean change - 13 ± 5.29; P = 0.049); HbA1c values were instead not affected by the drug (mean change - 0.10 ± 0.12; P = 0.453). In five studies, groups exposed to verapamil achieved lower value of glycometabolic outcomes: comparison with values recorded in control groups showed a significant difference, in terms of both HbA1c and plasma glucose levels.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the fact that plasma glucose levels were lowered significantly by verapamil-based treatment in patients with T2D (the HbA1c values were not affected by the drug), the clinical significance of the glycometabolic response induced by verapamil-based treatment remains unclear due to the high variety of sample size and type of studies presently available. Further experimental and clinical trials are needed to clarify unambiguously the role of verapamil in metabolic control.