ABSTRACT
Objective To compare efficacy of nateglinide or acarbose combined with metformin in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.Methods Ninety-six patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes in Metabolic Diseases Hospital of Tianjin Medical University,were randomly to receive nateglinide combined with metformin (group A,n =46) or acarbose combined with metformin (group B,n =42) for four months.Drug dose was adjusted every two weeks.Before and after treatment,oral glucose tolerance test and insulin release test were performed to observe changes of their glucose tolerance,homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) ,insulin secretion function of β-cells and glucose disposition index (DI) in the two groups.Results After four-month treatment,six patients restored to normal glucose tolerance and 13 patients returned to impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in group A and 12 patients restored to IGT in group B.Their HOMA-IR was markedly improved compared with baseline in both groups,decreased to 7.1 ± 1.3 from 8.6 ± 1.2 in group A and to 6.9 ± 1.7 from 8.6 ± 1.7 in group B ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Compared with group B,early insulin secretion ( LN△I30/△G30 ) obviously improved in group A [( 1.9 ±0.8) vs.(1.6±0.6) mU/mmol] (P＜0.05) and DI also increased (1.05±0.25 vs.0.89±0.21,P＜0.05 ).Conclusions Nateglinide combined with metformin can obviously restore early insulin secretion and improve insulin resistance in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes,thus facilitate restoration of their glucose tolerance.
