Diabetes News March 16th 2012

Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the clinical setting: systematic review and meta-analysis
In patients with type 2 diabetes who do not achieve the glycaemic targets with metformin alone, DPP-4 inhibitors can lower HbA1c, in a similar way to sulfonylureas or pioglitazone, with neutral effects on body weight. Increased unit cost, which largely exceeds that of the older drugs, and uncertainty about their long term safety, however, should also be considered (BMJ)

Use of an Automated Decision Support Tool Optimizes Clinicians’ Ability to Interpret and Appropriately Respond to Structured Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose Data
Use of structured SMBG, combined with the DST, the educational DVD, or both, enhances clinicians’ ability to correctly identify significant glycemic patterns and make appropriate therapeutic decisions to address those patterns (Diabetes Care)

A nursing educational intervention helped by One Touch UltraSmart™ improves monitoring and glycated haemoglobin levels in type I diabetic children
Our research showed that the use of One Touch UltraSmart in the context of an educational intervention raised the awareness of the diabetic children and thus helped them to effectively control their disease and to fully understand the necessity of having good dietary and exercise habits (Journal of Clinical Nursing)

Comparison of HbA1c and oral glucose tolerance test for diagnosis of diabetes in patients with coronary artery disease
There is a large discordance between OGTT and HbA1c in terms of detecting latent DM-2 in patients with CAD. Measurement of HbA1c could result in lower propensity of DM-2 diagnosis (Clinical Research in Cardiology)

Generation of functional insulin-producing cells in the gut by Foxo1 ablation
Here, we show that, unexpectedly, somatic ablation of Foxo1 in Neurog3+ enteroendocrine progenitor cells gives rise to gut insulin-positive (Ins+) cells that express markers of mature ß cells and secrete bioactive insulin as well as C-peptide in response to glucose and sulfonylureas (Nature Genetics)

Recreational drug use in type 1 diabetes: an invisible accomplice to poor glycaemic control?
Drug use was associated with worse glycaemic control and higher risk of diabetic ketoacidosis. Medical awareness of common, currently underreported, drug use in young people with T1D is essential. It offers the possibility of helping such patients improve related suboptimal metabolic control (Internal Medicine Journal)

A large multi-centre European study validates high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) as a clinical biomarker for the diagnosis of diabetes subtypes
In the largest study to date, we have established that hsCRP is a clinically valid biomarker for HNF1A-MODY in European populations (Diabetologia)

Diabetes-impaired wound healing and altered macrophage activation: A possible pathophysiologic correlation
It was indicated that changed macrophage activation might contribute to impaired healing in diabetes wounds, and that strategies for reverting this abnormal activation could be useful for enhancing the wound healing process (Wound Repair and Regeneration)