Advances in the management of diabetes: new devices for type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune condition that affects a significant number of people worldwide, with higher prevalence in white European populations. The condition is responsible for a high burden of microvascular complications, especially when poorly controlled. The condition is also burdensome on the patient and has major psychosocial and occupational impacts. It requires lifelong frequent blood glucose monitoring and regular insulin injections. Important technological advances in the management of T1D have occurred in recent years. These include the advent of new glucose testing devices using interstitial glucose, and new insulin delivery devices. These technologies may improve quality of life, and glucose management in this condition. This review aims to outline the current advances in the management of T1D for the general physician, with a particular focus on new technologies.

HEROIC: a 5-year observational cohort study aimed at identifying novel factors that drive diabetic kidney disease: rationale and study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease worldwide and a major cause of premature mortality in diabetes mellitus (DM). While improvements in care have reduced the incidence of kidney disease among those with DM, the increasing prevalence of DM means that the number of patients worldwide with DKD is increasing. Improved understanding of the biology of DKD and identification of novel therapeutic targets may lead to new treatments. A major challenge to progress has been the heterogeneity of the DKD phenotype and renal progression. To investigate the heterogeneity of DKD we have set up The East and North London Diabetes Cohort (HEROIC) Study, a secondary care-based, multiethnic observational study of patients with biopsy-proven DKD. Our primary objective is to identify histological features of DKD associated with kidney endpoints in a cohort of patients diagnosed with type 1 and type 2 DM, proteinuria and kidney impairment. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: HEROIC is a longitudinal observational study that aims to recruit 500 patients with DKD at high-risk of renal and cardiovascular events. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data will be collected and assessed annually for 5 years. Renal biopsy tissue will be collected and archived at recruitment. Blood and urine samples will be collected at baseline and during annual follow-up visits. Measured glomerular filtration rate (GFR), echocardiography, retinal optical coherence tomography angiography and kidney and cardiac MRI will be performed at baseline and twice more during follow-up. The study is 90% powered to detect an association between key histological and imaging parameters and a composite of death, renal replacement therapy or a 30% decline in estimated GFR. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been obtained from the Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee (REC 18-LO-1921). Any patient identifiable data will be stored on a password-protected National Health Services N3 network with full audit trail. Anonymised imaging data will be stored in a ISO27001-certificated data warehouse.Results will be reported through peer-reviewed manuscripts and conferences and disseminated to participants, patients and the public using web-based and social media engagement tools as well as through public events.

Advances in the management of diabetes: therapies for type 2 diabetes.

The incidence of type 2 diabetes is rapidly rising worldwide leading to an increasing burden of cardiovascular and microvascular complications. The aim of treatment of the condition is to improve quality of life and reduce such complications. To this end, improvement in glucose control remains an important consideration. In recent years, important therapeutic advances have occurred in the management of hyperglycaemia in people with type 2 diabetes. These include the use of dipeptidylpeptidase-4 inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and sodium glucose transporter-2 inhibitors. The latter two classes appear to have some specific beneficial effects on cardiovascular and renal outcomes, independent of their antihyperglycaemic effects. This review aims to outline the current state of diagnosis and management of diabetes for the general physician, with a particular focus on new therapeutic agents for management of glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Clinical risk factors predicting genital fungal infections with sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor treatment: The ABCD nationwide dapagliflozin audit.

INTRODUCTION: Treatment of type 2 diabetes with sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors may result in genital fungal infections. We investigated possible risk factors for developing such infections among patients treated with the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin. METHODS: The Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD) collected data on patients treated with dapagliflozin in routine clinical practice from 59 diabetes centres. We assessed possible associations of patient's age, diabetes duration, body mass index, glycated haemoglobin, renal function, patient sex, ethnicity and prior genital fungal infection, urinary tract infection, urinary incontinence or nocturia, with the occurrence of ≥1 genital fungal infection within 26 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: 1049 out of 1116 patients (476 women, 573 men) were analysed. Baseline characteristics were, mean±SD, age 56.7±10.2years, BMI 35.5±6.9kg/m2 and HbA1c 9.4±1.5%. Only patient sex (13.2% women vs 3.3% men) and prior history of genital fungal infection (21.6% vs 7.3%) were found to be associated with occurrence of genital fungal infections after dapagliflozin treatment, adjusted OR 4.22 [95%CI 2.48,7.19], P<0.001 and adjusted OR 2.41 [95% CI 1.04,5.57], P=0.039, respectively. CONCLUSION: Women and patients with previous genital fungal infections had higher risks of developing genital fungal infections with dapagliflozin treatment.

Eye and foot checks in patients with diabetes on haemodialysis: Are they done, and who does them?

AIM: To determine if retinal and foot checks are carried out on patients with diabetes receiving haemodialysis. METHODS: Eighty-four patients with diabetes receiving haemodialysis were asked if they recalled having eye and foot screening in the last year, and if so, by whom was the check done. RESULTS: Seventy-seven (91.7%) patients recalled having an eye check in the preceding 12 mo. Of these, 52 (67.5%) did so in an ophthalmology clinic, 17 (22%) in retinal screening, three (3.9%) in an optician clinic. Three patients (3.9%) went to both ophthalmology and retinal screening, and two (2.6%) attended an ophthalmology and optician. Seventy (83.3%) patients recalled having a foot check in the preceding 12 mo. Of these, 33 (47.1%) were done by practice nurse, 14 (20%) by a diabetes nurse, 11 (15.7%) by a general practitioner, eight (11.4%) by a chiropodist, and four (5.7%) were each checked by renal nurse, diabetes consultant, junior doctor, or unknown person at a foot clinic. CONCLUSION: Most patients with diabetes on haemodialysis are able to recall having an eye check in the last year, although 8.3% could not. A significant proportion of patients could not recall having a foot check (16.7%) in the last year. This baseline audit suggests that an improvement in the rate of foot screening is important to achieve in patients with diabetes on haemodialysis in our unit.

Metastatic spinal abscesses from diabetic foot osteomyelitis.

A 66-year-old man with long-standing type 2 diabetes, nephropathy and neuropathy was admitted acutely with an infected left big toe neuropathic ulcer, with underlying osteomyelitis. His condition rapidly deteriorated with sepsis and right lobar pneumonia. Microbiology grew methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus. Shortly into his admission, he developed flaccid paraparesis, and an MRI showed multiple epidural abscesses with likely cord infarction, not amenable to surgical intervention. His sepsis resolved, but his paraparesis remained severe, requiring spinal rehabilitation.