The dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor PHX1149 improves blood glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

AIM: To determine the efficacy and tolerability of PHX1149, a novel dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitor, in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: This is a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 4-week study in patients with type 2 diabetes with suboptimal metabolic control. Patients with a baseline haemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c)) of 7.3 to 11.0% were randomized 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 to receive once-daily oral therapy with either PHX1149 (100, 200 or 400 mg) or placebo; patients were on a constant background therapy of either metformin alone or metformin plus a glitazone. RESULTS: Treatment with 100, 200 or 400 mg of PHX1149 significantly decreased postprandial glucose area under the curve AUC(0-2 h) by approximately 20% (+0.11 +/- 0.50, -2.08 +/- 0.51, -1.73 +/- 0.49 and -1.88 +/- 0.48 mmol/l x h, respectively, for placebo and 100, 200 and 400 mg (p = 0.002, 0.008 and 0.004 vs. placebo). Postprandial AUC(0-2 h) of intact glucagon-like peptide-1, the principal mediator of the biological effects of DPP4 inhibitors, was increased by 3.90 +/- 2.83, 11.63 +/- 2.86, 16.42 +/- 2.72 and 15.75 +/- 2.71 pmol/l x h, respectively, for placebo and 100, 200 and 400 mg (p = 0.053, 0.001 and 0.002 vs. placebo). Mean HbA(1c) was lower in all dose groups; the placebo-corrected change in the groups receiving 400 mg PHX1149 was -0.28% (p = 0.02). DPP4 inhibition on day 28 was 53, 73 and 78% at 24 h postdose in the groups receiving 100, 200 and 400 mg PHX1149, respectively. There were no differences in adverse events between PHX1149-treated and placebo subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Addition of the DPP4 inhibitor PHX1149 to a stable regimen of metformin or metformin plus a glitazone in patients with type 2 diabetes was well tolerated and improved blood glucose control.

Absence of the dawn glucose rise in nondiabetic men compared by age.

To determine whether the dawn phenomenon occurs in healthy elderly subjects, we compared glucose and insulin levels as well as glucose production rates in 10 young nondiabetic men (mean age 26 +/- 3 years) and 10 old nondiabetic men (mean age 69 +/- 3 years) between 0500 to 0800. Young subjects demonstrated a modest but significant rise in plasma glucose level (89 +/- 1 mg/dl to 92 +/- 1 mg/dl, p less than .05) and glucose production rate (1.7 +/- 0.1 mg/kg/min to 1.9 +/- 0.2 mg/kg/min, p less than .05) between 0540 and 0800. No rise was detected in the plasma glucose or glucose production rate in older subjects as a group, between these times. However, a few elderly subjects did display a dawn glucose rise. Changes in plasma insulin levels were not significant for either young or old subjects. Older subjects had significantly lower mean peak growth hormone levels during the night than young subjects (6.7 +/- 1.3 vs 10.1 +/- 1.6 ng/ml, p less than .05). These results demonstrate a modest rise in plasma glucose levels and glucose production rate in healthy young subjects consistent with previous reports of the dawn phenomenon. This modest early morning glucose rise is absent in most otherwise healthy older subjects.

Insulin suppresses its own secretion in vivo.

This study addressed the controversial question of whether a negative-insulin-feedback loop exists in vivo. We utilized prehepatic insulin production, calculated by computerized deconvolution analysis of peripheral C-peptide concentration, as a measure of endogenous insulin secretion. Prehepatic insulin production was determined in 10 normal men who randomly underwent a control study and two additional studies involving different insulin infusion rates that achieved circulating insulin concentrations within the physiologic range during euglycemic clamps. The results demonstrate a dose-dependent suppression of prehepatic insulin production from 5.8 +/- 1.4 mU/min during the control study to 4.0 +/- 1.2 and 3.2 +/- 0.9 mU/min during plasma insulin levels of 34 +/- 4 and 61 +/- 6 microU/ml, respectively (P less than .05). Therefore, in contrast to recently reported results in vitro, insulin inhibits its own secretion in humans.

Underestimation of hepatic glucose production by radioactive and stable tracers.

Although negative hepatic glucose production rates are physiologically impossible, they have been observed when hepatic glucose production is measured with the tracer-dilution technique during the hyperinsulinemic, euglycemic glucose clamp. Because hepatic glucose production is determined from the difference between tracer-derived glucose disposal and the known exogenous glucose infusion rate, the negative values for hepatic glucose production must result from an underestimation of glucose disposal by the tracer technique. In the current investigation, tracer-derived glucose disposal was measured in 25 subjects undergoing hyperinsulinemic, euglycemic clamps. Glucose disposal was measured with both radioactive and stable isotopes that utilize different methodologies, to determine whether discriminant metabolism of the isotopes versus methodological error leads to underestimation of tracer-derived glucose disposal. Both the radioactive and stable methodologies underestimated the exogenous glucose infusion rate during the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp by 27 and 17%, respectively. Mean hepatic glucose production was -2.1 +/- 0.2 and -1.3 +/- 0.2 mg X kg-1 X min-1 as determined by the radioactive and stable isotope methodologies, respectively. Methodological error was an unlikely cause of this underestimation because it occurred with two different methodologies. The most likely explanation for underestimated rates of glucose disposal determined by the two types of isotope methodologies is discrepant metabolism of glucose tracers in comparison with unlabeled glucose.