Effect of acarbose in treatment of type II diabetes mellitus: a double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled trial.

This study evaluated the efficacy of acarbose in improvement of metabolic control in patients with fairly, well controlled non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Fifteen patients with mean age and duration of diabetes of 57.5 +/- 2.6 (SE) and 7.5 +/- 1.5 years, respectively were recruited and completed our study protocol. This study was a double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled design consisting of two twelve-week treatments of acarbose and placebo separated by an eight-week washout period. Acarbose was effective in lowering of 1-hour and 2-hour postprandial plasma glucose from 251.7 +/- 10.7 and 205.3 +/- 9.1 mg/dl to 197.4 +/- 7.0 (p = 0.001) and 181.5 +/- 8.5 mg/dl (p = 0.03), respectively. Fasting plasma glucose was slightly decreased but without significant change, from 150.8 +/- 7.3 to 140.8 +/- 6.1 mg/dl (p = 0.07). Overall glycemic control tended to improve during the study period as indicated by the falling of HbA1c levels from 7.7 +/- 0.4 to 7.0 +/- 0.2 per cent (p = 0.05). Serum C-peptide both fasting and postprandial as well as serum lipids were not affected by acarbose. Almost half of the patients treated with acarbose had mild and tolerable gastrointestinal adverse effects. In conclusion, acarbose, as combined therapy with other oral hypoglycemic agents, was effective in improvement of glycemic control particularly postprandial hyperglycemia in fairly, well controlled NIDDM patients with mild and acceptable adverse effects.

Modification in sucrose tolerance test with acarbose, guargum and their combination in patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes.

The study was undertaken to assess the efficacy guargum, Acarbose and their combination in modifying the sucrose absorption in patients of non Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Fifty patients of NIDDM were randomly distributed in three groups. Group A had 20 patients who received 20 grams of guargum, Group B had 10 patients who received 100 mg of Acrabose, Group C had 20 patients who received 10 grams of guargum and 50 grams of Acrabose. All the patients underwent 50 grams sucrose tolerance test with and without the trial drugs. Blood glucose levels were determined at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes after sucrose loading. With the drugs, there was a significant decrease in the blood glucose levels at all time intervals (p < 001) in all the three groups. In all the three groups the blood glucose levels with the trial drugs was significantly lower (p < 001) than without the drug. It was seen that acarbose alone and guargum alone did not differ significantly in reducing the blood sugar level whereas combination of two produced significantly greater reduction in blood glucose levels than either of the drug used alone. Thus both guargum and acarbose are equally effective in modifying the absorption of sucrose. When combined in half the dosage they have synergistic effect and the reduction in blood glucose level is greater than either of the drug used alone.