Vildagliptin reduces glucagon during hyperglycemia and sustains glucagon counterregulation during hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetes

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Glucagon.

The dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, vildagliptin, inhibits glucagon secretion at hyperglycemia but appears to enhance glucagon counterregulation during hypoglycemia in type 2 diabetes.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 28 patients taking part.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were young adults and adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Glucagon and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

As a double-blind Glucagon study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Glucagon could be set against what happens without it.

In the crossover set-up each of the patients took both Glucagon and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Adamantane, Blood Glucose, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, Dipeptidyl-Peptidase IV Inhibitors, Glucagon, Glucagon-Secreting Cells and Glucose Clamp Technique.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Glucagon in 28 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 6 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2012 (The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Glucagon compound page, all human trials.