Glaucoma drug may help treat diabetes

Victoria, Australia-A study recently published in Diabetes Care found that methazolamide (Neptazane, Fera) significantly lowered HbA1C levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.

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The double-blind, placebo-controlled study randomized 76 patients to oral methazolamide (40 mg b.i.d.) or placebo over 24 weeks. Of the 76 patients, 41 were were also taking metformin (Glumetza, Salix). The test group saw its HbA1C levels lowered by 0.39 percentage points.

The study also found a 19 percent rate of metabolic acidosis, a known side effect of the drug that was not associated with clinically significant symptoms or study withdrawals, and a greater weight loss compared with the placebo group, also seen only in the metformin/methazolamide group.

Researchers say methazolmide may lead to a potential new class of type 2 diabetes therapy rather than pursing the drug in its current form, partly because the drug’s carbonic-anhydrase inhibition is likely not the cause of its glucose-lowering mechanism.