Aims: Short-term intensive insulin therapy (SIIT) reverses β cell dysfunction in early T2DM, but this effect vanes overtime. This study aimed to investigate the effects of metformin plus pioglitazone sequential therapy on maintenance of the effect of SIIT.
Methods: SIIT were applied in 50 patients with newly diagnosed T2DM to normalize blood glucose for 2 weeks. Patients were then randomly assigned to receive either sequential therapy (metformin 0.5g bid plus pioglitazone 15mg bid) or lifestyle change alone for 3 months. OGTTs were performed with plasma glucose and insulin measured.
Results: As showed in the figure, plasma glucose profiles and insulin response during OGTT were improved similarly by SIIT in both groups. At 3 months of follow-up, GHbA1c (6.2±0.6% vs. 6.5±0.4%, P=0.12) in the sequential treatment group was slightly lower though without statistical significance. In OGTT, blood glucose 30, 60 and 90 minutes was significantly lower in the sequential treatment group, which led to lower AUCglucose (1456.1±266.3 vs. 1644.8±184.5 mmol/L*min, P=0.03) and higher AUCinsulin to AUCglucose ratio (2.5±1.9 vs. 1±1.1, P=0.01). HOMA B, HOMA IR, Mesuda index and ISSI-2 were all similar between the two groups.
Conclusion: Metformin plus pioglitazone as sequential therapy might improve glycemic control and β cell function after SIIT in newly diagnosed T2DM.
L. Liu: None. L. Hai: None. W. Ke: None. Y. Li: None.
National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1314102)
