Late-Breaking Abstracts

Reviewed by Joelle Escoffery, PhD

There were a number of late-breaking abstracts relevant to diabetes treatment. In terms of people with type 2 diabetes inadequately treated with oral medications, a number of different therapeutic strategies were tested and shown to be effective, including the incretin mimetic exenatide[1],[2], the dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) inhibitor LAF237,[3] and basal insulin therapy with insulin glargine.[4] Further, exenatide use was associated with weight loss and did not cause an increase in hypoglycemia. Lantus use also was not associated with an increase in hypoglycemia.

A number of studies addressed type 2 diabetes oral agents.  Repaglinide was shown to have superior benefits on glycemic control, compared with metformin, and the two demonstrated a comparable effect on cardiovascular risk factors.[5] Use of thiazolidinediones was shown to improve β-cell function.[6] Additionally, treatment with oral insulin in the early stages of type 2 diabetes was shown to be effective for improving glycemic control and insulin sensitivity. [7]

References

1. DeFronzo R, Ratner R, Han J, Kim D, Fineman M, Baron A. Effects of exenatide (synthetic Exendin-4) on glycemic control and weight over 30 weeks in metformin-treated patients with type 2 diabetes.
2. Kendall D, Riddle M, Zhuang D, et al. Effects of exenatide (synthetic Exendin-4) on glycemic control and weight in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with metformin and a sulfonylurea.
3. Ahren B, Gomis R, Standl E, Mills D, Schweitzer A. Prolonged efficacy of LAF237 in patients with Type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with metformin.
4. Lavalle-Gonzales F, Storms F, Shutler S, et al. Effect of basal insulin glargine therapy in type 2 patients inadequately controlled on oral antidiabetic agents: AT:LANTUS trial.
5. Lund SS, Tarno L, Poulsen G, et al. Effect of metformin vs repaglinide on glycemic control and non-glycemic cardiovascular risk factors in non-obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus uncontrolled by diet.
6. Gastaldelli A, Mari A,Miyazaki Y, et al. Thiazolidinediones improve β-cell function in type 2 diabetic patients.
7. Heise T, Kapitza C, Nosek L, et al. Oral insulin as first line therapy in type 2 diabetes: a randomized-controlled pilot study.