Efficacy of vildagliptin on glucose fluctuation in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients with ongoing sulfonylurea based oral glycemic agent therapy.

AIM: To investigate whether vildagliptin, one of the dipeptidylpeptide-4 (DDP-4) inhibitors, improves not only glycemic control but also glycemic fluctuation when added to ongoing sulfonylurea (SU) based oral hypoglycemic agents (OHA) therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

METHODS: A total of 19 patients with T2DM were recruited from outpatients. Vildagliptin was initiated with a dose of 100mg per day in the patients who had inadequate glycemic control and glycemic fluctuation with ongoing SU based OHA therapy. Glycemic excursion was defined by seven-point self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) on three days at baseline and 12 weeks after vildagliptin-combined therapy, as well as HbA1c levels. M-value and J-index were calculated to evaluate glycemic excursion.

RESULTS: Addition of vildagliptin to ongoing SU based OHA therapy significantly decreased HbA1c values from 8.2 ± 3.8% at baseline to 7.3 ± 0.8% at 12-week. The average of blood glucose profiles was significant improved. As a result, M-value was significantly corrected from 20.9 ± 14.4 to 12.2 ± 13.5 and J-index from 55.1 ± 25.5 to 39.1 ± 19.8.

CONCLUSIONS: Vildagliptin when added to ongoing SU based OHA therapy for 12 weeks significantly improved glycemic fluctuation as well as glycemic control in Japanese patients with T2DM.