Comparison between Vasodilating and Nonvasodilating Beta Blockers on Blood Glucose and Lipid Profiles in Normal Albino Rats

Beta blockers play an important role in the treatment of many cardiovascular diseases. Despite their beneficial effect, the significant difference in their pharmacological properties will influence their metabolic effect. The aim of the present study is to compare the metabolic effect of 4 different beta blockers; two nonvasodilator beta blockers (a non-selective beta blocker, propanolol and cardioselective one, atenolol), and two vasodilator beta blockers (a non-selective beta blocker with alpha1 blocking effect, carvedilol, and a cardioselective one with endothelium-dependent vasodilatation, nebivolol); on blood glucose and lipid profile in normal rats. Fifty normal albino rats were divided into five groups: control, propanolol, atenolol, carvedilol, and nebivolol. Drugs were given orally by gastric tube once daily for 8 weeks. At the end of the study, following overnight fasting, blood samples were taken directly from the heart of rats, anesthetized with ether, and analyzed for blood glucose and lipid profile levels. In comparison with normal control rats, significant hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia were observed in animals treated with the nonvasodilating beta blockers propanolol or atenolol. As regard carvedilol treated animals, there was significant hyperglycemia without significant dyslipidemia as compared with control group. In contrast, it was found that the changes in blood glucose and lipid profile produced by nebivolol were within normal limits and were statistically not significant compared with control. The results of the current study showed that nebivolol is potentially safe over other conventional beta blockers regarding the metabolic effect on glucose and lipid profile. Ameen M. Almohammadi 1 , Abdulrahman M. Alahdal 1 , Ahmed A. Elberry 1,2,* , Mohamed Nabil Alama 3 , Mohamed A. Morsi 1 , Mahmoud A. Abdel-