THURSDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, treatment with liraglutide produces better results than glimepiride in terms of reduced glycosylated hemoglobin, weight, hypoglycemia and blood pressure, according to the results of a study published online Sept. 25 in The Lancet.
Alan Garber, Ph.D., of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and colleagues conducted a 52-week, phase III, double-blind, parallel-treatment trial of 746 patients with early type 2 diabetes, of whom 251 were randomized to 1.2 mg/day of liraglutide, 247 to 1.8 mg/day of liraglutide, and 248 to 8 mg/day of glimepiride.
At the 52-week mark, subjects treated with 1.2 mg/day of liraglutide had a 0.84 percent decrease in glycosylated hemoglobin, while those in the 1.8 mg/day liraglutide group had a 1.14 percent reduction, versus 0.51 percent for those in the glimepiride group, the researchers found. None of the glimepiride group subjects discontinued treatment, whereas five of the 1.2 mg/day and one of the 1.8 mg/day liraglutide group subjects discontinued due to vomiting, the investigators report.
"We conclude that liraglutide is safe and effective as initial pharmacological therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus and has advantages over other drugs used in monotherapy, such as greater reductions in weight, the number of hypoglycemic events, and systolic blood pressure," the authors write.
The trial was sponsored by Novo Nordisk, A/S, which developed the proprietary compound liraglutide.
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