Diabetes Care, Vol 18, Issue 8 1179-1182, Copyright © 1995 by American Diabetes Association
Reduction of postprandial hyperglycemia in subjects with IDDM by intravenous infusion of AC137, a human amylin analogue
OG Kolterman, A Gottlieb, C Moyses and W Colburn
Amylin Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, California 92121, USA.
OBJECTIVE--To demonstrate that intravenous administration of AC137
(25,28,29 tripro-human amylin), a human amylin analogue, modulates the rate
of appearance of glucose derived from a standard oral meal in the
peripheral circulation of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus
(IDDM). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS--After the observation that a 2-h
infusion of AC137 at a rate of 150 micrograms/h, in conjunction with the
subjects' usual morning insulin dose, decreased postprandial hyperglycemia
in 6 subjects with IDDM, a double-blind placebo-controlled two-period
crossover design in an additional 18 IDDM patients was undertaken to
confirm and extend the observation. Based on reasoning that an effect to
modulate the appearance of orally administered glucose would have no impact
on the disposition of an intravenous glucose load, nine patients were
challenged with an intravenous glucose loads (300 mg/kg), while another
nine patients were challenged with a standardized Sustacal meal (350 kcal)
during a 5-h infusion of AC137 (50 micrograms/h). On each occasion, the
subjects received their usual morning doses of insulin subcutaneously. The
impact of the AC137 infusion on the plasma glucose responses to these
different challenges was assessed. RESULTS--Intravenous infusion of AC137
yielding steady state plasma concentrations of 225 +/- 15 pmol/l (mean +/-
SE) reduced postprandial plasma glucose concentrations after the
standardized Sustacal meal challenge. The mean area under the glucose
curve, corrected for baseline, was reduced from -1,869 +/- 5,562
mg.dl-1.min during placebo infusion to -28,872 +/- 4,812 mg.dl-1.min during
AC137 infusion, P = 0.0015. In contrast, an AC137 infusion producing
steady-state concentrations of 234 +/- 16 pmol/l had no effect on the
plasma glucose profile after administration of an intravenous glucose load.
CONCLUSIONS--AC137 administration, in these patients with IDDM, reduced
postprandial hyperglycemia apparently by affecting the delivery rate of
glucose from the gastrointestinal tract. AC137 may prove to be a clinically
useful addition to insulin regimens to facilitate the achievement of
glycemic control.