Diabetes News

Taspoglutide QW significantly improved pancreatic function in patients with T2D treated with metformin (Metabolism – Clinical and Experimental)

Pioglitazone and sitagliptin achieved similar improvements in overall glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with metformin and a sulfonylurea. However there were some differences in terms of FPG, high sensitive C-reactive protein, lipids, body weight change and adverse events (Endocrine Practice)

DPP-4 inhibitors, which were safe and effective in controlling the blood glucose, may possibly decrease the risk of CV events in patients with T2DM. It could be a credible alternative for T2DM patients who, for some reason, cannot use metformin, or are in high risk of CV exposure. High-quality, large sample and long-term follow-up clinical trails are needed to confirm the long-term conclusions (Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism)

Partially insulin-deficient diabetes induces deleterious effects on long-bone micro-architecture that are associated with a decrease in BMPC osteogenic potential, which could be mediated by a decrease in their Runx-2/PPAR? ratio and up-regulation of RAGE. These diabetes-induced alterations can be totally or partially prevented by oral administration of metformin (Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice)

NICE technology appraisal guidance 288

A sufficient number of clinical trials have been conducted on sufficiently chemically diverse SGLT2 inhibitors to reasonably conclude that they have efficacy (HbA1c reductions of 0·4–1%), and thus far, the majority of adverse effects have been mild and transitory or treatable, with the caveat of possible association with increased risk of breast cancer in women and bladder cancer in men (Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics)

Joint Meeting of the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee (Food and Drug Administration)

After considering the feedback from consultation, the Appraisal Committee has prepared a Final Appraisal Determination (FAD) on Dapagliflozin in combination therapy for treating type 2 diabetes [ID427] and submitted it to the Institute (NICE)

Long-term basal therapy using insulin degludec in Type 1 diabetes required lower doses and was associated with a 25% lower risk for nocturnal hypoglycaemia than insulin glargine (Diabetic Medicine)

Tumor size is smaller in patients treated with metformin suggesting inhibition of tumor growth by the drug (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism)

Compared with pravastatin, treatment with higher potency statins, especially atorvastatin and simvastatin, might be associated with an increased risk of new onset diabetes (BMJ)

Show for the first time individualized HbA1c treatment goals can be reached in elderly type 2 diabetes patients with no major tolerability issues (Novartis)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued final guidance recommending ranibizumab (Lucentis, Novartis) as a treatment for sight problems caused by macular oedema (NICE)

DPP-4 inhibitors and the study of ancillary effects is gaining an increasing interest for the possible cardiovascular benefit of these drugs beyond glucose control. As DPP-4 inhibitors show favorable safety profiles and do not cause hypoglycemia, they are attractive drugs also for non-diabetic patients and may become part of a vascular regenerative pharmacotherapy (Atherosclerosis)

Recently, some therapeutic effects of DPP-4 inhibitors, such as immune regulation, cardiovascular protection and anti-inflammatory effect have been gradually observed. This article provides a systematic and comprehensive review of current researches on the newly-found effect and mechanism of DPP-4 inhibitors in therapy (Journal of Diabetes)

Liraglutide treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes significantly reduced postprandial excursions of triglyceride and apolipoprotein B48 after a fat-rich meal, independently of gastric emptying. Results indicate liraglutide’s potential to reduce cardiovascular disease risk via improvement of postprandial lipaemia (Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism)

It was concluded that good metabolic control can be achieved if these agents are used judiciously. The DPP-4 inhibitors improve HbA1c but are weight neutral, while the GLP-1R agonists cause both weight loss and improvements in HbA1c. The addition of insulin under specialist supervision can be beneficial (Practical Diabetes)

This article provides an overview of clinical evidence and discusses the rationale for the combination therapy of DPP-4 inhibitors and metformin (Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism)

Dapagliflozin-induced SGLT2 inhibition for 12 weeks is associated with reductions in 24-hour BP, body weight, GFR, and possibly plasma volume. Cumulatively, these effects suggest that dapagliflozin may have a diuretic-like capacity to lower BP in addition to beneficial effects on glycemic control (Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism)

Cancer mortality was markedly reduced in the patients on gliclazide and tolbutamide. These results suggest additional benefits for these drugs beyond their blood glucose-lowering effect and strongly advocate for further investigation (European Journal of Endocrinology)