Safety and efficacy of addition of sitagliptin to rapid-acting insulin secretagogues for glycemic control, including post-prandial hyperglycemia, among Japanese with type 2 diabetes mellitus

The safety and efficacy of sitagliptin as add-on therapy to glinides, rapid-acting insulin secretagogues, were evaluated for Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. This 52-week study consisted of a 12-week double-blind period, followed by a 40-week open-label period. During the double-blind period, patients were randomized to sitagliptin 50 mg q.d. (S/S group) or placebo (P/S group) as add-on therapy to glinide monotherapy. During the open-label period, all patients in both groups were administered sitagliptin 50 mg q.d. (or 100 mg q.d. after up-titration). During the double-blind period, the overall occurrence of adverse experiences (AE) was similar in both treatment groups. The frequency of reported AE of hypoglycemia in both groups was low and not notably different. The nature of clinical AE during the open-label period for both groups was not notably different from that of clinical AE in the sitagliptin group during the double-blind period. The between-group difference in HbA1c least squares (LS) mean of change from baseline (95 % CI) at Week 12 was −1.1 % (−1.3, −0.8) in favor of sitagliptin (P < 0.001). LS mean of reductions from baseline of fasting plasma glucose and 2-h postmeal glucose were significantly greater in the sitagliptin group than in the placebo group: −23.1 mg/dL (−32.2, −13.9) and −51.2 mg/dL (−67.4, −35.0), respectively (both P < 0.001). The changes from baseline in glycemic data in the S/S group remained generally stable throughout the 52-week treatment period.