Diabetes Care, Vol 17, Issue 7 719-721, Copyright © 1994 by American Diabetes Association
Long-term improvement of glycemic control by insulin treatment in NIDDM patients with secondary failure
T Lindstrom, P Eriksson, AG Olsson and HJ Arnqvist
Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University Hospital, Linkoping, Sweden.
OBJECTIVE--To evaluate the long-term efficacy of insulin treatment of
patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and secondary
failure to oral hypoglycemic agents. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
METHODS--Twenty-one NIDDM patients with secondary failure were studied
while they were still on oral agents. Then they were switched to insulin
treatment, and after a median of 27 months, a long-term evaluation was
conducted. RESULTS--At the long-term evaluation, metabolic control was
still markedly improved by insulin treatment, with reduction of HbA1c from
8.8 +/- 0.2 (mean +/- SE) to 6.9 +/- 0.3% (P < 0.0001), lowering of
very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol concentration from 0.97 +/-
0.3 to 0.69 +/- 0.1 mM (P < 0.03), and lowering of total triglycerides
from 2.8 +/- 0.6 to 1.8 +/- 0.3 mM (P < 0.005), mainly due to reduction
of VLDL triglycerides. Body weight increased during the first year, but not
thereafter (71.3 +/- 2.5 kg during oral treatment, 78.9 +/- 2.9 and 79.8
+/- 3.2 kg after 12 and 36 months of insulin treatment, respectively).
Blood pressure did not change. Fasting and postprandial insulin
concentrations increased, and C-peptide concentrations were lowered.
CONCLUSIONS--Improvements of glycemic control and lipoprotein
concentrations in patients with NIDDM and secondary failure persist also
after insulin treatment for 2-3 years in spite of weight gain and
hyperinsulinemia.