Diabetes Care, Vol 21, Issue 3 416-422, Copyright © 1998 by American Diabetes Association
Chronic treatment of African-American type 2 diabetic patients with alpha-glucosidase inhibition
PS Johnston, PU Feig, RF Coniff, A Krol, DE Kelley and AD Mooradian
Bayer Pharmaceuticals, West Haven, Connecticut, USA.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term efficacy, safety, and tolerability of
the alpha-glucosidase inhibitor miglitol in the treatment of
African-American patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
METHODS: A total of 345 African-American type 2 diabetic patients (mean age
55.6 years, BMI 31.9 kg/m2, duration of diabetes 4.9 years, baseline HbA1C
8.7%) treated with either diet alone or sulfonylurea were randomized to 1
year of double-blind treatment with either placebo (n = 117) or miglitol (n
= 228) at doses of 50 or 100 mg t.i.d., titrated based on tolerability. The
primary efficacy criterion was change from baseline in HbA1C at the 6-month
visit. Secondarily efficacy parameters included changes from baseline in
plasma glucose and serum insulin (both fasting and 120 min after a
standardized test meal), fasting lipids, and urinary albumin-to-creatinine
ratio. Safety and tolerability evaluations were primarily based on
reporting of adverse events and symptoms and on periodic laboratory
analyses. RESULTS: Miglitol treatment was associated with a mean
placebo-subtracted reduction in HbA1C from baseline of 1.19% at 6 months.
Fasting and 120-min postprandial plasma glucose levels were reduced in
parallel to HbA1C, in association with miglitol treatment. Significant
reductions versus placebo in 120-min postprandial insulin levels, in LDL
cholesterol, and in fasting triglycerides, were also seen in the miglitol
group at individual study time points. Softer, more frequent stools and
flatulence were significantly more common in the miglitol group. Urinary
tract infections, hematuria, and herpes simplex infections were
significantly more common in the placebo group. CONCLUSIONS: Miglitol
treatment appears to be at least as efficacious in the African-American
type 2 population as in the U.S. type 2 population at large, with
comparable tolerability. alpha-Glucosidase treatment may be an important
therapeutic option in these patients in view of their greater risk for
microvascular complications and the accumulating body of evidence that
better glucose control reduces the risk of these complications.