Pioglitazone Improves Insulin Sensitivity Compared
To Metformin
Pioglitazone exerts a greater benefit on insulin
sensitivity in recently diagnosed patients with type
2 diabetes.
Pioglitazone and metformin improve glycemic control
to a similar extent, but pioglitazone exerts a greater
benefit on insulin sensitivity in recently diagnosed
patients with type 2 diabetes who have not previously
received oral antihyperglycaemics.
Researchers from Lilly Research Laboratories, Indianapolis,
Indiana, United States, treated 205 recently diagnosed
type 2 diabetics who had not previously received
oral antihyperglycaemics. Treatment began with either
30 mg pioglitazone or 850 mg metformin daily for
32 weeks. To attain fasting plasma glucose levels
of less than 7.0 mmol per litre, the researchers
titrated the doses daily, increasing pioglitazone
to 45 mg in 77% of patients, and metformin to 2550
mg in 73%.
Pioglitazone and metformin produced comparable effects
on haemoglobin A1C and fasting plasma glucose levels,
suggesting that the drugs improved glycaemic control
to a similar extent. However, at the end of the study,
pioglitazone reduced fasting serum insulin levels
and improved the homeostasis model assessment for
insulin sensitivity to a greater extent than metformin.
This suggests that pioglitazone improves insulin
sensitivity more effectively than metformin. Pioglitazone
and metformin were well tolerated. J Clin Endocrinol
Metab 2003;88:4:1637-45
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Having
the results of your patients A1c while you
are with them can motivate them to better self-control.
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.
