In diabetic patients, morbidity and mortality rise due to diabetic vascular complications such as atherosclerosis, retinopathy and nephropathy, triggered by endothelial dysfunction.
Glycaemic control agents, statins and renin-angiotensin
system inhibitors ameliorate endothelial dysfunction [59], thereby improving prognosis.
In this study of diabetic rats, nicorandil protected
against endothelial dysfunction through
inhibition of ROS production without glycaemic control.
This result may
suggest that nicorandil can improve the
prognosis of patients with ischemic heart disease and diabetic complications through not only the pharmacological preconditioning effect, but also an endothelial protective effect. In fact,
the IONA [60] and J-CAD [61] studies demonstrated nicorandil to improve the prognosis of patients with ischemic heart
disease and diabetes.
