Addition of sitagliptin or metformin to insulin monotherapy improves blood glucose control via different effects on insulin and glucagon secretion in hyperglycemic Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Glucagon and GIP (Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide).

This study aimed to explore the effects of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor sitagliptin and the biguanide metformin on the secretion of insulin and glucagon, as well as incretin levels, in Japanese subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus poorly controlled with insulin monotherapy.

This was a single-center, randomized, open-label, parallel group study, enrolling 25 subjects.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 25 subjects taking part.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, open-label and parallel-group study.

The subjects were allocated by chance, so the Glucagon group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Everyone knew when Glucagon was being given (open label), which is simpler to run but leaves more room for expectations to affect what is reported.

The Glucagon group and the comparison group ran side by side rather than switching.

The plasma glucose, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), C-peptide, and glucagon responses to a meal challenge were measured.

What Was Measured

This study aimed to explore the effects of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor sitagliptin and the biguanide metformin on the secretion of insulin and glucagon, as well as incretin levels, in Japanese subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus poorly controlled with insulin monotherapy.

Before and after treatment, each subject underwent a meal tolerance test.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Dipeptidyl-Peptidase IV Inhibitors, Drug Resistance, Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide, Glucagon, Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 and Glucagon-Secreting Cells.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, open-label and parallel-group study of Glucagon and GIP (Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide) in 25 subjects.

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 publication is from 2015 (Endocrine journal), a journal based in Japan.

More context: the Glucagon compound page and the GIP (Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide) compound page, all human trials.