Nateglinide, alone or in combination with metformin, is effective and well tolerated in treatment-naïve elderly patients with type 2 diabetes.

AIM

The aim of this work was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of nateglinide alone or in combination with metformin in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

METHODS

Study 1 was a 12-week, multicentre, randomized, double blind and placebo-controlled study of nateglinide monotherapy (120 mg, before meals) in 66 drug-naïve patients with T2DM aged >or=65 years. Study 2 was a 104-week, multicentre, randomized, double blind and active-controlled study of nateglinide (120 mg, before meals) or glyburide (up to 5 mg bid) in combination with metformin (up to 1000 mg bid) in 69 treatment-naïve patients with T2DM aged >or=65 years. HbA(1c), fasting and postprandial glucose levels, and safety assessments were made.

RESULTS

In Study 1, nateglinide significantly reduced HbA(1c) from baseline (7.6 +/- 0.1% to 6.9 +/- 0.1%; Delta = -0.7 +/- 0.1%, p < 0.001) and compared with placebo (between-group difference = -0.5%, p = 0.004 vs. nateglinide). No hypoglycaemia was reported. In Study 2, combination therapy with nateglinide/metformin significantly reduced HbA(1c) from baseline (7.8 +/- 0.2% to 6.6 +/- 0.1%; Delta = -1.2 +/- 0.2%, p < 0.001), as did glyburide/metformin (7.7 +/- 0.1% to 6.5 +/- 0.1%; Delta = -1.2 +/- 0.1%, p < 0.001). There was no difference between treatments (p = 0.310). One nateglinide/metformin-treated patient experienced a mild hypoglycaemic episode compared with eight episodes in eight patients on glyburide/metformin; one severe episode led to discontinuation. Target HbA(1c) (<7.0%) was achieved by 60% of patients receiving nateglinide (Study 1) and 70% of nateglinide/metformin-treated patients (Study 2).

CONCLUSION

Initial drug treatment with nateglinide, alone or in combination with metformin, is well tolerated and produces clinically meaningful improvements in glycaemic control in elderly patients with T2DM.