Use of Gla-100 in Special Situations.

Insulin therapy is the cornerstone of diabetes management in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, its use is recommended even in special populations and situations such as the elderly, pregnant women, obese individuals, people observing religious fasting, and in the presence of comorbidities such as renal insufficiency, and cancer. Since these special situations predispose to complications such as a high risk of hypoglycemia, patients need constant glucose monitoring and insulin dose adjustments, wherever applicable. This review discusses the various considerations that might guide the decision-making process in the special situations alluded to here. It also throws light on how insulin glargine 100 U/mL has emerged as a preferred choice of insulin therapy in most of these situations, on the strength of its inherently low hypoglycemia and weight gain potential, which has found traction even in the recent diabetes guidelines.

Metabolic evaluation in first-time renal stone formers in North India: a single center study.

The risk of stone recurrence in first-time stone formers (FTSF) varies from 26% to 53%. There is no consensus regarding metabolic evaluation in these individuals. We evaluated the metabolic abnormalities in first-time renal stone forming patients in North India. Thirty-nine patients, (29 males and 10 females with mean age 39.3 ± 12.9 years) who presented with nephrolithiasis for the first time were evaluated. We evaluated the calcium homeostasis [serum corrected total calcium, phosphorous, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, parathormone (iPTH), 25-hydroxy cholecalciferol (25(OH)D 3 ), 1-25 di-hydroxy cholecalciferol (1,25(OH) 2 D 3 )] and performed the calcium load test also. Two 24-h urine collections were taken for citrate, oxalate, calcium and uric acid. Ammonium chloride loading test for diagnosis of distal renal tubular acidosis was performed in all patients. For each of the diagnostic categories, descriptive statistics were computed for all biochemical variables. A two-tailed P-value <0.05 was regarded as significant. Metabolic abnormalities were detected in 92.3% of the patients (n = 39) studied. Of them, almost 60% had two or more metabolic abnormalities. The most common metabolic abnormality was hypo-citraturia (82%), followed by hyper-oxaluria (56%) and hyper-calciuria (41%). Five percent of the patients had incomplete renal tubular acidosis, signifying the importance of the ammonium chloride loading test in patients with renal stones. None of the study patients were detected to have primary hyperparathyroidism. In three patients, the etiology could not be detected. Our findings suggest that an underlying disorder is present in majority of first-time renal stone formers. Intervention with appropriate treatment can prevent recurrences. Hence, comprehensive metabolic evaluation is recommended in all FTSF.

Clinical experience with insulin detemir, biphasic insulin aspart and insulin aspart in people with type 2 diabetes: Results from the Rajasthan cohort of the A1chieve study.

BACKGROUND: The A1chieve, a multicentric (28 countries), 24-week, non-interventional study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of insulin detemir, biphasic insulin aspart and insulin aspart in people with T2DM (n = 66,726) in routine clinical care across four continents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data was collected at baseline, at 12 weeks and at 24 weeks. This short communication presents the results for patients enrolled from Rajasthan, India. RESULTS: A total of 477 patients were enrolled in the study. Four different insulin analogue regimens were used in the study. Patients had started on or were switched to biphasic insulin aspart (n = 340), insulin detemir (n = 90), insulin aspart (n = 37), basal insulin plus insulin aspart (n = 7) and other insulin combinations (n = 2). At baseline glycaemic control was poor for both insulin naïve (mean HbA1c: 8.3%) and insulin user (mean HbA1c: 8.4%) groups. After 24 weeks of treatment, both the groups showed improvement in HbA1c (insulin naïve: -0.9%, insulin users: -1.2%). Major hypoglycaemic events decreased from 0.5 events/patient-year to 0.0 events/patient-year in insulin naïve group while no change from baseline (1.3 events/patients-year) was observed for insulin users. SADRs were not reported in any of the study patients. CONCLUSION: Starting or switching to insulin analogues was associated with improvement in glycaemic control with a low rate of hypoglycaemia.

High prevalence of low bone mineral density in patients with tropical calcific pancreatitis.

OBJECTIVES: Patients with tropical calcific pancreatitis (TCP) have multiple risk factors for developing low bone mineral density (BMD). We studied BMD and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) in north Indian TCP patients. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 72 TCP patients (mean age, 31 ± 10 years) and 100 controls were studied. Serum 25(OH)D was measured in all subjects; BMD was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in 56 adult patients and 4 children and compared with a reference Indian population. RESULTS: Mean BMD and BMD Z-scores at the lumbar spine and total hip were significantly lower in all age groups. The BMD Z-scores at the lumbar spine and total hip were -1.0 ± 1.0 and -1.2 ± 1.2, respectively. Low bone density (Z-score ≤ -2 at ≥ 1 sites) was present in 22 (39%) adult patients and 3 of the 4 children studied. On multivariate analysis, BMD Z-scores were positively associated with body mass index and inversely with pancreatitis. Vitamin D deficiency (25[OH]D < 50 nmol/L) was equally prevalent in patients (86%) and controls (85%). CONCLUSIONS: Despite their young age, patients with TCP have significantly low BMD. Measures to improve nutrition should be instituted in all TCP patients from an early age.