Efficacy of the combination of semaglutide, insulin degludec, and metformin in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and poor glycemic control accompanied by overweight or obesity

Yating ZHANG; Lin ZHANG

ABSTRACT

Objective:

To investigate the efficacy of the combination of semaglutide, insulin degludec, and metformin in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and poor glycemic control accompanied by overweight or obesity.

Methods:

A total of 160 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and poor glycemic control accompanied by overweight or obesity were included in this case-control study after receiving treatment at Bayannur Hospital from April 2022 to March 2023. These patients were divided into a control group and an observation group based on different treatment regimens, with 80 patients in each group. The control group was treated with degludec insulin combined with metformin, while the observation group was treated with semaglutide, degludec insulin, and metformin. The treatment lasted for 12 weeks in both groups. The changes in fasting plasma glucose, 2-hour postprandial blood glucose (2 h PG), glycosylated hemoglobin, time in range for 2 h PG, fasting insulin, Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance index, body mass index, and visceral fat area and adverse reactions were monitored.

Results:

The overall response rate in the observation group was 100% (80/80), which was significantly higher than 97.5% (78/80) in the control group (χ 2 = 11.03, P < 0.05). After treatment, the levels of 2 h PG, glycosylated hemoglobin, fasting insulin, Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance index, body mass index, visceral fat area in the observation group were (7.35 ± 0.17) mmol/L, (6.08 ± 0.24)%, (10.30 ± 2.58) μU/mL,(2.69 ± 0.66), (24.40 ± 0.68) kg/m 2, (80.20 ± 8.94) cm 2, respectively, which were significantly lower than (7.92 ± 0.24) mmol/L, (6.34 ± 0.27)%,(13.71 ± 3.13) μU/mL,(3.57 ± 0.83), (26.77 ± 3.49) kg/m 2, (116.12 ± 34.09) cm 2 respectively in the control group ( t = -0.73, -3.74, -4.20, -4.15, -3.35, -5.10, all P < 0.05). The time in range for 2 h PG in the observation group was (72.68 ± 4.09)%, which was significantly higher than (50.16 ± 10.00)% in the control group ( t = -10.42, P < 0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group was 3.8% (3/80), which was slightly, but not significantly, higher than 2.5% (2/80) in the control group ( P > 0.05).

Conclusion:

The combination of semaglutide, degludec insulin, and metformin demonstrates an ideal clinical effect in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and poor glycemic control accompanied by overweight or obesity. This combined approach can effectively regulate fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels, markedly decrease the body mass index and visceral fat levels, and improve insulin resistance while not significantly increasing the incidence of adverse reactions.