Efficacy of Repaglinide versus Acarbose for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the efficacy of repaglinide vs.acarbose for type 2 diabetes mellitus.METHODS:After treatment failure with diet and exercise therapy alone,120 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomly assigned to receive either repaglinide(n = 60) or acarbose(n = 60) for 12 weeks.The values of fasting plasma glucose(FPG),postprandial blood sugar(P2BG),glycosylated hemoglobin(HbA1C),fasting insulin(FINS),postprandial insulin(P2hINS),blood fat and body mass index(BMI) before and after treatment were measured and compared.RESULTS:The curative efficacy in repaglinide group was better than in acarbose group,with FBG decreased by an average of 3.84 mmol·L-1 vs.2.90 mmol·L-1(P 0.01).The values of P2hBG in both group were reduced significantly after treatment(P 0.01),and the reduction degree of the two groups was similar to each other.The levels of HbA1C in both groups were significantly decreased and no statistically significant difference were noted between the two groups(P 0.05).The value of P2hINS in patients after treatment with repaglinide were significantly increased as compared with before treatment(P 0.01) but the value of P2hINS in acarbose group was decreased significantly as compared with before treatment(P 0.01).At 12 weeks,BMI increased by 1.3%(P 0.05) in repaglinide group and decreased by 2.6%(P 0.05) in acarbose group,showing significant differences between the two groups(P 0.05).Acarbose treatment significantly reduced both triglyceride and low density lipoprotein(P 0.01).CONCLUSION:The values of FBG,P2hBG and HbA1C can all be decreased significantly by either Repaglinide or Acarbose.The effects of repaglinide is better than acarbose in down-regulating FBG;however,Acabose can down-regulating postprandial insulin secretion,regulating blood fat and lowering body weight,thus is more suitable for obese patients.