Clinical efficacy of different doses of lipo-prostaglandin E1 in the treatment of painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of different doses of alprostadil (lipo-prostaglandin E1, lipo-PGE1) in the treatment of painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Methods: Sixty patients with painful DPN were equally and randomly assigned into three groups. Two groups received different doses of lipo-PGE1 by intravenous drip injection (A group: low-dose lipo-PGE1; B group: high-dose lipo-PGE1) following intravenous bolus injection of mecobalamin (MeCbl, 0.5 mg once daily (QD)); the third group received MeCbl alone (C group). All patients received optimized treatment to lower blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipids to target levels. The efficacy of lipo-PGE1 in the three groups of patients was observed after 3 weeks of treatment. Results: The overall response rate was 90% in the B group, significantly higher than that in the A and C groups (80% and 55%, respectively; P < 0.05). During the observation period, there was no incidence of serious adverse reactions (e.g., acute heart failure, sudden drop in blood pressure, or malignant arrhythmias) in any of the three groups. Conclusions: High-dose lipo-PGE1 has better efficacy than low-dose lipo-PGE1 or MeCbl alone in the treatment of painful DPN. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.