Predictive factors and the management of hyperglycemia in patients with acromegaly and Cushing's disease receiving pasireotide treatment: post hoc analyses from the SOM230B2219 study.

Introduction: Pasireotide, a somatostatin receptor ligand, is approved for treating acromegaly and Cushing's disease (CD). Hyperglycemia during treatment can occur because of the drug's mechanism of action, although treatment discontinuation is rarely required. The prospective, randomized, Phase IV SOM230B2219 (NCT02060383) trial was designed to assess optimal management of pasireotide-associated hyperglycemia. Here, we investigated predictive factors for requiring antihyperglycemic medication during pasireotide treatment. Methods: Participants with acromegaly or CD initiated long-acting pasireotide 40 mg/28 days intramuscularly (acromegaly) or pasireotide 600 µg subcutaneously twice daily during pre-randomization (≤16 weeks). Those who did not need antihyperglycemic medication, were managed with metformin, or received insulin from baseline entered an observational arm ending at 16 weeks. Those who required additional/alternative antihyperglycemic medication to metformin were randomized to incretin-based therapy or insulin for an additional 16 weeks. Logistic-regression analyses evaluated quantitative and qualitative factors for requiring antihyperglycemic medication during pre-randomization. Results: Of 190 participants with acromegaly and 59 with CD, 88 and 15, respectively, did not need antihyperglycemic medication; most were aged <40 years (acromegaly 62.5%, CD 86.7%), with baseline glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) <6.5% (<48 mmol/mol; acromegaly 98.9%, CD 100%) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) <100 mg/dL (<5.6 mmol/L; acromegaly 76.1%, CD 100%). By logistic regression, increasing baseline HbA1c (odds ratio [OR] 3.6; P=0.0162) and FPG (OR 1.0; P=0.0472) and history of diabetes/pre-diabetes (OR 3.0; P=0.0221) predicted receipt of antihyperglycemic medication in acromegaly participants; increasing baseline HbA1c (OR 12.6; P=0.0276) was also predictive in CD participants. Investigator-reported hyperglycemia-related adverse events were recorded in 47.9% and 54.2% of acromegaly and CD participants, respectively, mainly those with diabetes/pre-diabetes. Conclusion: Increasing age, HbA1c, and FPG and pre-diabetes/diabetes were associated with increased likelihood of requiring antihyperglycemic medication during pasireotide treatment. These risk factors may be used to identify those who need more vigilant monitoring to optimize outcomes during pasireotide treatment.

Emedastine difumarate versus loratadine in chronic idiopathic urticaria: a randomized, double-blind, controlled European multicentre clinical trial.

Emedastine difumarate (2 mg b.i.d.) was compared to loratadine (10 mg o.d.) in a randomized, double-blind, multicentre trial for 4 weeks in 192 patients with idiopathic chronic urticaria. After one week of treatment significant differences were recorded: body skin involvement diminished to 0-10% in 57.1% of emedastine patients vs. 38.2% of loratadine patients (p = 0.0019) and 83.3% had a total urticaria symptom score of 0-1 vs. 64.5% with loratadine (p = 0.0134). After 4 weeks of treatment the efficacy of the two drugs was similar in terms of mean change in total urticaria symptom score (- 5.57 +/- 3.15 with emedastine - 5.67 +/- 3.26 with loratadine), proportion of symptom-free patients (52.4% vs. 54.5%), intensity of erythema, number of hives, size of the largest hive, extent of skin area involved and overall assessment of urticaria symptoms.Twenty-three emedastine patients (23.9%) and 17 loratadine patients (17.7%) experienced an adverse event. Nineteen events in 15 emedastine patients and 9 in 9 loratadine patients were related to treatment (p = 0.0294). Only one event caused discontinuation in both treatment groups. The most common adverse event was sleepiness (7 patients with emedastine and 2 with loratadine). Emedastine is well tolerated, and as effective as loratadine in the short-term treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria.