The Korean Diabetes Association (KDA) recently updated the Clinical Practice Guidelines on antihyperglycemic agent therapy for adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In combination therapy of oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs), general recommendations were not changed from those of the 2015 KDA guidelines. The Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines of the KDA has extensively reviewed and discussed the results of meta-analyses and systematic reviews of effectiveness and safety of OHAs and many clinical trials on Korean patients with T2DM for the update of guidelines. All OHAs were effective when added to metformin or metformin and sulfonylurea, although the effects of each agent on body weight and hypoglycemia were different. Therefore, selection of a second agent as a metformin add-on therapy or third agent as a metformin and sulfonylurea add-on therapy should be based on the patient's clinical characteristics and the efficacy, side effects, mechanism of action, risk of hypoglycemia, effect on body weight, patient preference, and combined comorbidity. In this review, we address the results of meta-analyses and systematic reviews, comparing the effectiveness and safety among OHAs. It will help to choose the appropriate drug for an individual patient with T2DM.
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The aim of this study was to investigate the glucose-lowering efficacy of antidiabetic treatments in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) uncontrolled by sulfonylurea plus metformin.
This open-label, multicenter, prospective, observational study was conducted in 144 centers in Korea, from June 2008 to July 2010, and included patients with T2DM who had received sulfonylurea and metformin for at least 3 months and had levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) >7.0% in the last month. Data of clinical and biochemical characteristics were collected at baseline and 6 months after treatment. The treatment option was decided at the physician's discretion. Subjects were classified into the following three groups: intensifying oral hypoglycemic agents (group A), adding basal insulin (group B), or starting intensified insulin therapy (group C).
Of 2,995 patients enrolled, 2,901 patients were evaluated, and 504 (17.4%), 2,316 (79.8%), and 81 patients (2.8%) were classified into groups A, B, and C, respectively. Subjects in group C showed relatively higher baseline levels of HbA1c and longer duration of diabetes. The mean decrease in HbA1c level was higher in the insulin treated groups (−0.9%±1.3%, −1.6%±1.3%, and −2.4%±2.3% in groups A, B, and C, respectively,
These findings suggest that insulin-based therapy will be an important option in the improved management of Korean patients with T2DM whose glycemic control is not sufficient with sulfonylurea and metformin.
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This study was performed to determine the factors associated with long-term oral hypoglycemic agent (OHA) responsiveness in Korean type 2 diabetic patients.
Two groups of patients were selected among the type 2 diabetic patients who were followed for more than two years at a university hospital diabetes clinic. The OHA responsive group consisted of 197 patients whose HbA1c levels were maintained at ≤7% with OHA for more than two years. The OHA failure group consisted of 180 patients whose HbA1c levels were >8% in spite of optimal combined OHA therapy or patients who required insulin therapy within the two years of the study.
The OHA failure group had higher baseline values of fasting and postprandial glucose, HbA1c, and lower fasting, postprandial, and delta C-peptide compared to those of the OHA responsive group. The OHA failure group also had a higher proportion of female patients, longer diabetic duration, and more family history of diabetes. There were no significant differences in body mass index (BMI) or insulin resistance index between the two groups. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the highest quartile of baseline fasting, postprandial glucose, and HbA1c and the lowest quartile of postprandial and delta C-peptide were associated with an increased odds ratio of OHA failure after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, and family history of diabetes.
Lower baseline values of postprandial and delta C-peptide and elevated fasting glucose and HbA1c are associated with long-term OHA responsiveness in Korean patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
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