Effects of gemigliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, on lipid metabolism and endotoxemia after a high-fat meal in patients with type 2 diabetes.

We aimed to investigate the effects of gemigliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, on postprandial lipoprotein levels and endotoxemia in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Ten people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), inadequately controlled with oral antidiabetic medications and/or lifestyle modification, were randomized to gemigliptin or placebo for 4 weeks. At the end of each treatment phase, the study participants underwent a high-fat meal tolerance test and needle aspiration of abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue. The median (range) fasting and total area under the curve of apolipoprotein B48 (ApoB48) were significantly lower with gemigliptin than with placebo (2.9 [1.5-15.8] µg/mL vs 4.2 [1.3-23.4] µg/mL; P = .020; 35.3 [14.4-87.4] µg/mL × hour vs 42.2 [17.5-109.0] µg/mL × hour; P = .020, respectively), whereas apolipoprotein B100 showed no significant difference. Serum endotoxin levels were undetectable in 70% of the samples, so we were not able to evaluate the effect of gemigliptin on endotoxemia. The gene expression of inflammatory cytokines in subcutaneous adipose tissue was not affected by gemigliptin. Gemigliptin reduced ApoB48 levels after a high-fat meal in participants with T2DM. Whether systemic endotoxin levels can be reduced by gemigliptin requires further investigation.