Insulin-induced weight gain and cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes. A report from the DIGAMI 2 study.

AIM: We investigated whether insulin treatment-induced weight gain was accompanied by increased cardiovascular (CV) mortality and morbidity in the second Diabetes Insulin Glucose in Acute Myocardial Infarction (DIGAMI 2) study. METHODS: We studied the 865 patients who survived during 12 months without any change in their glucose-lowering (GL) therapy. They were divided into four subgroups according to GL treatment: group I, no pharmacological GL treatment (n = 99); group II, oral hypoglycaemic agents (n = 250); group III, new insulin treatment (n = 245) and group IV, insulin before inclusion continued during the first year of follow up (n = 271). RESULTS: Patients who started on insulin (group III) experienced an average body weight increase of 2.3 (1.5-3.2) kg during the first year of treatment, whereas weight remained unchanged in groups I, II and IV. The incidence of non-fatal reinfarction was higher in group III compared with the other groups (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.5, p = 0.011) and CV mortality was higher in group IV (HR = 2.4, p = 0.003). When the subjects were grouped in quartiles according to maximal body weight increase, those in the lowest quartile experienced the highest CV mortality. Each kilogram increase in weight reduced the risk for CV death with 6%. The incidence of reinfarction did not differ between quartiles. CONCLUSIONS: Initiation of insulin treatment after myocardial infarction was associated with a significant increase in weight and incidence of reinfarction. The increase in weight did, however, not explain the increased rate of reinfarction.

Vitamin concentrations 5 years after gastric bypass.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Few studies have investigated the effects of bariatric surgery on vitamin status in the long term. We examined changes in vitamin status up to 5 years after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Using a retrospectively maintained database of patients undergoing weight loss surgery, we identified all patients operated with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass at our tertiary care hospital during July 2004-May 2008. Data on vitamin concentrations and patient-reported intake of dietary supplements were collected up to July 2012. Linear mixed models were used to estimate changes in vitamin concentrations during follow-up, adjusting for age and sex. All patients were recommended daily oral multivitamin, calcium/vitamin D and iron supplements and 3-monthly intramuscular B-12 after surgery. RESULTS: Out of the 443 patients operated with gastric bypass, we included 441 (99.5%) patients with one or more measurements of vitamin concentrations (75.1% women; mean age 41.5 years, mean body mass index 46.1 kg/m(2) at baseline). At 5 years after surgery, the patients' estimated mean vitamin concentrations were either significantly higher (vitamin B-6, folic acid, vitamin B-12, vitamin C and vitamin A) or not significantly different (thiamine, 25-hydroxyvitamin D and lipid-adjusted vitamin E) compared with before surgery. Use of multivitamin, calcium/vitamin D and vitamin B-12 supplements was reported by 1-9% of patients before surgery, 79-84% of patients at 1 year and 52-83% of patients 5 years after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: In patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery, estimated vitamin concentrations were either significantly increased or unchanged up to 5 years after surgery.

Blood glucose lowering by means of lifestyle intervention has different effects on adipokines as compared with insulin treatment in subjects with type 2 diabetes.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Adipokines may be important in mediating signals from adipocytes to insulin-sensitive tissue and vasculature. We studied the effect of different glucose-lowering therapies on serum levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), TNF-alpha, leptin, adiponectin and ghrelin in patients with type 2 diabetes. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twenty-eight patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes who were receiving oral hypoglycaemic agents were allocated to one of the following groups, and treated for 1 year: (1) lifestyle intervention (L); (2) insulin treatment (I); and (3) combined treatment (L+I). RESULTS: Similar improvements in glycaemic control occurred in all three groups. There was a reduction in body weight of 3.0 kg (median) (95% CI -5.9 to -2.0) in group L, whereas in groups L+I and I body weight increased by 3.5 kg (95% CI 1.5-4.9) and 4.9 kg (95% CI -3.1 to 8.2), respectively. By trend analyses, group L had reduced levels of PAI-1 (p=0.002), hs-CRP (p<0.0001) and TNF-alpha (p=0.006), while no significant changes were observed in the levels of leptin or adiponectin. In group I, the median levels of PAI-1 (p=0.008), TNF-alpha (p=0.058) and leptin (p=0.004) increased. In the L+I group there was a reduction in PAI-1 levels (p=0.014) and an increase in levels of leptin (p<0.001). The differences in changes in the levels of PAI-1, hs-CRP, TNF-alpha and leptin between groups were also significant (all p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Improvement of glycaemic control through lifestyle intervention in type 2 diabetes had more beneficial effects on adipokine levels than when the same lowering of HbA(1c) was achieved with insulin treatment.

An intensified lifestyle intervention programme may be superior to insulin treatment in poorly controlled Type 2 diabetic patients on oral hypoglycaemic agents: results of a feasibility study.

AIMS: The aims of this study were to assess whether, in Type 2 diabetic patients with inadequate glycaemic control on oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHA), a lifestyle intervention programme based on exercise and diet counselling (i) was as effective as insulin treatment in controlling blood glucose, and (ii) could prevent the weight gain usually accompanying the introduction of insulin treatment. METHODS: Thirty-eight Type 2 diabetic subjects treated with OHA, HbA(1c) 8-10.5% and body mass index (BMI) 26-40 kg/m2, were randomized to the following treatments: (i) lifestyle intervention (L), (ii) lifestyle intervention + insulin treatment (L+I) and (iii) insulin treatment alone (I). RESULTS: There was a reduction in HbA(1c) of -1.2 (interquartile range 1.0), -1.0 (1.7) and -1.5 (2.5)% in group L, L+I and I, respectively, and all treatment groups achieved beneficial changes in blood lipid variables. There was no significant difference between the groups in the change observed in levels of HbA(1c) between start and 12 months of treatment (P = 0.74). There was a significant difference in weight changes between groups (P < 0.01): group L reduced weight by median -3.0 (4.0) kg, groups L+I and I increased weight by 3.5 (3.4) and 4.9 (6.9) kg, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Lifestyle intervention was as effective as insulin treatment in improving glycaemic control in poorly controlled subjects with Type 2 diabetes, and resulted in weight loss during the intervention year. However, glycaemic control deteriorated and body weight increased in the lifestyle intervention group 1 year after the intervention stopped.

Structural hair shaft abnormalities in hypomelanosis of ito and other ectodermal dysplasias.

Hair samples from patients with different ectodermal dysplasias; hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, pachyonychia congenita, tricho-dento-osseous syndrome, tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome, and hypomelanosis of Ito were investigated using a scanning electron microscope. The hairs of the patients showed different structural abnormalities; twisted hairs, longitudinal grooves, trichorrhexis nodosa as well as variations in the hair caliber. Hair shaft abnormalities, as in our patients with tricho-dento-osseous syndrome, and hypomelanosis of Ito have so far not been described.