Tetracycline is a type of medication called an antibiotic.
It is used to treat many different bacterial infections in the body, infections such as urinary tract infections, acne, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and others.
It has been suggested evidence also indicates this antibiotic might have a role in lowering blood sugar as well.
During the month of August 2011, investigators at Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine in New York State, reported in the journal Pharmacology Research the results of a study on the use of tetracycline in people with diabetes.
Study No.
1: Forty-five people with Type 2 diabetes and gum disease were included in the study.
All these diabetics were given dental treatment for their gum disease.
The participants were also divided into three groups and randomly assigned to take:
2 per cent to an average of 6.
3 per cent.
There was no significant change in the HbA1c levels in the other two groups.
All the Type 2 diabetics recovered from their gum disease.
The investigators, therefore concluded long-term treatment with low-dose doxycycline (tetracycline) could be beneficial for people with Type 2 diabetes being treated for gum disease.
Study No.
2: The work at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, was consistent with a 2001 report from Okayama University Dental School in Japan.
According to an article published in the Journal of Periodontology, 13 people with Type 2 diabetes and gum disease were included in the study.
They were treated with minocycline, another form of tetracycline, which was applied to their gums weekly for one month.
Outcome: The number of bacteria in their pockets of gum disease...
tumor necrosis factor alpha (thought to play a role in Type 2 diabetes), and their HbA1c levels, were all reduced.
Six diabetics reduced their need for insulin and also reduced the level of their insulin resistance.
Again it was concluded treating bacterial infections with a form of tetracycline was effective in helping to control Type 2 diabetes, suspecting the antibiotic worked through the reduction of tumor necrosis factor alpha, and insulin resistance.
Further work published during the year 2008, doxycycline could also have a protective effect against diabetic heart disease by inhibiting certain enzymes.
Investigators at Ankara University in Turkey reported in the British Journal of Pharmacology they had looked at the function of rats' hearts in the presence of doxycycline.
Rats' hearts with abnormal pressures and calcium levels, were restored to normal pressures and calcium levels when the rats were treated with doxycycline.
(Calcium is necessary for heart muscles to contract).
Research on the tetracycline antibiotics holds promise for one more weapon against diabetes and its complications.
It is used to treat many different bacterial infections in the body, infections such as urinary tract infections, acne, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and others.
It has been suggested evidence also indicates this antibiotic might have a role in lowering blood sugar as well.
During the month of August 2011, investigators at Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine in New York State, reported in the journal Pharmacology Research the results of a study on the use of tetracycline in people with diabetes.
Study No.
1: Forty-five people with Type 2 diabetes and gum disease were included in the study.
All these diabetics were given dental treatment for their gum disease.
The participants were also divided into three groups and randomly assigned to take:
- low-dose doxycycline a form of tetracycline, for three months,
- a higher dose of doxycycline for two weeks, or
- a placebo.
2 per cent to an average of 6.
3 per cent.
There was no significant change in the HbA1c levels in the other two groups.
All the Type 2 diabetics recovered from their gum disease.
The investigators, therefore concluded long-term treatment with low-dose doxycycline (tetracycline) could be beneficial for people with Type 2 diabetes being treated for gum disease.
Study No.
2: The work at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, was consistent with a 2001 report from Okayama University Dental School in Japan.
According to an article published in the Journal of Periodontology, 13 people with Type 2 diabetes and gum disease were included in the study.
They were treated with minocycline, another form of tetracycline, which was applied to their gums weekly for one month.
Outcome: The number of bacteria in their pockets of gum disease...
tumor necrosis factor alpha (thought to play a role in Type 2 diabetes), and their HbA1c levels, were all reduced.
Six diabetics reduced their need for insulin and also reduced the level of their insulin resistance.
Again it was concluded treating bacterial infections with a form of tetracycline was effective in helping to control Type 2 diabetes, suspecting the antibiotic worked through the reduction of tumor necrosis factor alpha, and insulin resistance.
Further work published during the year 2008, doxycycline could also have a protective effect against diabetic heart disease by inhibiting certain enzymes.
Investigators at Ankara University in Turkey reported in the British Journal of Pharmacology they had looked at the function of rats' hearts in the presence of doxycycline.
Rats' hearts with abnormal pressures and calcium levels, were restored to normal pressures and calcium levels when the rats were treated with doxycycline.
(Calcium is necessary for heart muscles to contract).
Research on the tetracycline antibiotics holds promise for one more weapon against diabetes and its complications.
Source...