Oral repaglinide versus insulin injection in type II diabetes mellitus; a randomized clinical trial

Introduction: Glycemic control at the level of normal condition is considered as a key point for preventing of complications like metabolic disturbances as well as renal pathologies in type II diabetes mellitus (DM). Objectives: Presented study was designed to find suitable method for reducing hyperglycemic pathologies like normalizing of albuminuria, postprandial blood sugar (BS), HbA1c, fasting blood sugar (FBS) and C-peptide levels by administration of insulin injection versus oral repaglinide. Patients and Methods: A total of 56 cases of type II DM were enrolled in this study and randomly divided into two groups of 28 subjects receiving regular insulin (control group) and repaglinide tablets (cases group) in accordance with inclusion and exclusion criteria. Glycemic profile and levels of albuminuria were measured and analyzed during 12 weeks. Results: Changes in levels of FBS, 2 hours postprandial (2hpp) BS and HbA1c were not showed in both groups (P = 0.096) but C-peptide levels were decreased in the repaglinide group (P = 0.001). Hypoglycemia was observed in 21.4% of control group. Statistically significant reduction in HbA1c levels was not observed despite a greater impact of regular soluble insulin on postprandial glucose (P = 0.096). Weight gain in insulin group was more (P = 0.042) and hypoglycemic events were lower in repaglinide group. Additionally, reduction in microalbuminuria was not statistically significant (P = 0.73) in both groups. Conclusion: Based on our findings, repaglinide is suitable candidate for preventing undesirable side effects through regular soluble insulin using for type II DM treatment.