Effects of Liraglutide Combined with Insulin on Oxidative Stress and Serum MCP-1 and NF-kB Levels in Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of liraglutide combined with insulin on oxidative stress and expression levels of serum monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB) in patients with type 2 diabetes. STUDY DESIGN: An experimental study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Department of Endocrinology, the Second Hospital Affiliated to Lanzhou University, China, from September 2016 to January 2018. METHODOLOGY: Ninety-two patients with type 2 diabetes were selected as objects of study. They were randomly divided into observation group and control group, with 46 cases in each group. The control group was treated with insulin alone, and the observation group was treated with liraglutide in combination with insulin. The changes of levels of blood glucose, serum MDA, SOD, MCP-1 and NF-kB were compared between the two groups before and after treatment, and the blood glucose target rate after treatment was compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Before treatment, there were no significant differences in fasting blood glucose, 2h postprandial blood glucose, serum MDA, serum SOD, serum MCP-1 and serum NF-kB between the two groups (p=0.885, 0.961, 0.919, 0.990, 0.954 and 0.837, respectively). After treatment, levels of the fasting blood glucose, 2h postprandial blood glucose, serum MDA, serum MCP-1, and serum NF-kB in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (all p<0.001). The serum SOD level and blood glucose target rate were higher in the observation group than those in the control group (p<0.001 and p=0.010, respectively). CONCLUSION: Liraglutide combined with insulin therapy can effectively improve blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetic, reduce oxidative stress status, decrease the expression of serum MCP-1 and NF-kB, and inhibit the internal inflammatory response.