Effects Of Long-Term Treatment Of Linagliptin On Glycemic Control In Japanese Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Background and Objective: Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors contribute to glycemic control in diabetes patients. However, each DPP-4 inhibitor differs in effects on glycemic control when treated for longterm. In this study, the effects of a long-term treated with linagliptin on glycemic control and serum lipids were investigated. Materials and Methods: Linagliptin (5 mg day(-1)) was administered to 25 type 2 diabetes patients for 18 months and assessed for its effects on hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and serum lipids. The two-side paired t-test and Dunett's post hoctest were used. Results: Three months after the start of linagliptin treatment, the HbA1c of the 13 patients was significantly lowered (p<0.01) and its effect continued for 18 months. In addition, serum total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol of the patients was also improved. On the other hand, HbA1c significantly increased in the 12 patients from 6 months of linagliptin treatment (p<0.05) and linagliptin had no effect on the serum lipids. It was found that the HbA1c in patients whose HbA1c decreased with linagliptin was significantly high before treatment compared to the patients whose HbA1c increased after treatment(p<0.01). Furthermore, the effects of linagliptin treatment on HbA1c was correlated with baseline HbA1c levels before treatment. Conclusion: About 18 month treatment with linagliptin significantly improved the glycemic control and serum lipids of diabetic patients with high HbA1c before treatment, whereas those parameters may not be improved in patients with low HbA1c.