Effect of cabergoline on the management of diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Shahrazad Khorasani; Tahereh Dara; Hamidreza Dehghan; Mohsen Zabihi; Maryam Saghafi; Fatemeh Saghafi

doi:10.1186/s40842-025-00230-y

Effect of cabergoline on the management of diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Cardiovasc Diabetol Endocrinol Rep. 2025 Aug 18;11(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s40842-025-00230-y.

Authors

Shahrazad Khorasani¹, Tahereh Dara², Hamidreza Dehghan³, Mohsen Zabihi¹, Maryam Saghafi⁴, Fatemeh Saghafi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Islamic Republic of Iran.
² Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Islamic Republic of Iran.
³ Research Center for Health Technology Assessment and Medical Informatics, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Islamic Republic of Iran.
⁴ Faculty of Midwifery, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Islamic Republic of Iran.
⁵ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Yazd, Islamic Republic of Iran. saghafi.fa@gmail.com.

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the oldest diseases known to man. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by relative insulin deficiency due to pancreatic beta cell dysfunction and insulin resistance in target organs, which will reach 629 million people by 2045. On the other hand, dopamine and dopaminergic signals control some metabolic pathways. Cabergoline is a long-acting dopamine agonist with a high affinity for dopamine receptors.

Materials and methods: In the current systematic review and Meta-analysis, all research published in PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases investigating the effect of cabergoline on the control of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), postprandial glucose (PPG), and HbA1c has been included. The overall certainty of the evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach. Comprehensive Meta-analysis Software was used for the statistical analyses using a random-effects model.

Results: A total of six articles (206 participants) were found from the mentioned databases. Data were extracted from six trials. Pooled Meta-analysis revealed that cabergoline significantly reduced FPG (SMD = -2.058; 95% CI: -3.269, -0.848), PPG (SMD = -1.786; 95% CI: (-3.035, -0.539), and HbA1c (SMD = -1.282; 95% CI: -2.283), but the analysis had extremely high heterogeneity (P-value-heterogeneity = 0.000).

Conclusion: The results indicate that cabergoline may positively affect the control of type 2 diabetes, as almost all of the six reviewed articles revealed a significant reduction in FPG, PPG, and HbA1c. However, further studies with a larger sample size and on type 1 and 2 DM are required to confirm these results.

Keywords: Cabergoline; Diabetes mellitus; Dopamine agonists; Meta-analysis; Systematic review.