Evaluation of the Effects of Mesoglycan on Some Markers of Endothelial Damage and Walking Distance in Diabetic Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease

The aim of this study was to evaluate the variation of some parameters involved in peripheral artery disease progression in diabetic patients with peripheral artery disease after six months of mesoglycan. We enrolled 64 Caucasian, type 2 diabetic patients, with stage IIa peripheral artery disease. They were randomized to mesoglycan (Prisma(®)), 50 mg twice a day, or placebo, for six months. We evaluated: glycemic control, metalloproteinase-2, and -9 (MMP-2, and -9), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), soluble vascular cell adhesion protein-1 (sVCAM-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). We recorded a decrease of MMP-2, MMP-9, sE-selectin, TNF-α, sVCAM-1, and IL-6 compared to baseline, and to placebo in the group treated with mesoglycan. Regarding sICAM-1, and hs-CRP, instead, we recorded a decrease with mesoglycan only compared to baseline. Preliminary results seem to suggest an improvement of pain free walking distance with mesoglycan in 18 patients both compared to baseline and to placebo, even if data should be taken cautiously. Our study showed that supplementation with mesoglycan improved endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetic patients with peripheral artery disease. Regarding the preliminary data suggesting also a slight improvement of clinical parameters such as pain free walking distance, more data and a bigger sample of patients are necessary to better verify this aspect.