The effect of nicergolin, a cerebral circulation ameliorator, at a dosage of 15 mg/day for a week, on glucose metabolism, tissue, insulin sensitivity and insulin secretory responses, were investigated in seven middle-aged (48±4yr; mean±SD) non-obese healthy volunteers. The study was conducted by means of a 90 min hyperglycemic (200 mg/dl) clamp followed by a 90 min euglycemic hyperinsulinemic (95 mg/dl, 100μU/ml) clamp. The hyperglycemic clamp revealed a tendency toward increased insulin secretion in the early (5 min)(32±21.7 vs 37±33.0; ns) and late phases (60-90 min)(21+6.6 vs 23±8.3; ns) with nicergolin. The euglycemic hyperglycemic clamp demonstrated a significant increase in the average glucose uptake rate with nicergolin (10.0±1.9 vs 8.9±1.4 mg/kg. min: p< 0.05 by paired t-test).
These data indicated the possibility that a cerebral circulation ameliorator such as nicergolin may improve glucose metabolism by increasing tissue glucose uptake.