Bromocriptine Quick Release Beneficial for Teens With T1DM

Improvements seen in blood pressure and central and peripheral aortic stiffness and pressure hemodynamics in teens with type 1 diabetes

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Dec. 6, 2022 (HealthDay News) — For adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D), bromocriptine quick release (BCQR) improves blood pressure and central and peripheral aortic stiffness, according to a study published online Dec. 6 in Hypertension.

Michal Schäfer, M.D., from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, and colleagues examined the cardiovascular and metabolic impact of BCQR in youth with T1D. Thirty-four adolescents with T1D were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to four weeks of BCQR or placebo during phase 1; after this phase, blood pressure and central aortic stiffness measurements by pulse wave velocity, relative area change, and distensibility from phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging were performed. Phase 2 was conducted in an identical manner with the alternate treatment after a four-week washout.

The researchers found that BCQR therapy reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure (Δ = −5 and −2 mm Hg, respectively) compared with placebo. The ascending aortic pulse wave velocity was reduced with BCQR (Δ = −0.4 m/s), and relative area change and distensibility increased (Δ = −2.6 percent and 0.008 percent/mm Hg, respectively). BCQR reduced pulse wave velocity (Δ = −0.2 m/s) and increased distensibility (Δ = 0.05 percent/mm Hg) in the thoraco-abdominal aorta.

“A stiff aorta predisposes a patient to other health issues, such as organ dysfunction or atherosclerosis and higher stress or strain on cardiac muscle,” Schäfer said in a statement. “We were able to take it a notch further and show, using more sophisticated metrics, that these central large arteries are impaired, and impairment among adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes may be decelerated with this drug.”

Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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