Assessment of hypoglycaemia during basal insulin therapy: Temporal distribution and risk of events using a predefined or an expanded definition of nocturnal events

Similar glycaemic control and risk of hypoglycaemia with patient- versus physician-managed titration of insulin glargine 300 U/mL across subgroups of patients with T2DM: a post hoc analysis of ITAS

AIMS

The Italian Titration Approach Study (ITAS) demonstrated comparable HbA_1c reductions and similarly low hypoglycaemia risk at 6 months in poorly controlled, insulin-naïve adults with T2DM who initiated self- or physician-titrated insulin glargine 300 U/mL (Gla-300) in the absence of sulphonylurea/glinide. The association of patient characteristics with glycaemic and hypoglycaemic outcomes was assessed.

METHODS

This post hoc analysis investigated whether baseline patient characteristics and previous antihyperglycaemic drugs were associated with HbA_1c change and hypoglycaemia risk in patient- versus physician-managed Gla-300 titration.

RESULTS

HbA_1c change, incidence of hypoglycaemia (any type) and nocturnal rates were comparable between patient- and physician-managed arms in all subgroups. Hypoglycaemia rates across subgroups (0.03 to 3.52 events per patient-year) were generally as low as observed in the full ITAS population. Small increases in rates of 00:00-pre-breakfast and anytime hypoglycaemia were observed in the ≤ 10-year diabetes duration subgroup in the patient- versus physician-managed arm (heterogeneity of effect; p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Comparably fair glycaemic control and similarly low hypoglycaemia risk were achieved in almost all patient subgroups with patient- versus physician-led Gla-300 titration. These results reinforce efficacy and safety of Gla-300 self-titration across a range of phenotypes of insulin-naïve people with T2DM.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

EudraCT 2015-001167-39.

Lower risk of severe hypoglycaemia with insulin glargine 300 U/mL versus glargine 100 U/mL in participants with type 1 diabetes: A meta-analysis of 6-month phase 3 clinical trials

Severe hypoglycaemia (SH) remains a challenge to people with type 1 diabetes (T1DM), and new-generation basal insulins may improve patient outcomes. This post hoc meta-analysis explored the risk of SH with insulin glargine 300 U/mL (Gla-300) versus glargine 100 U/mL (Gla-100) in a pooled population with T1DM from three randomized, multicentre, 6-month similarly designed phase 3 trials: EDITION 4, EDITION JP 1 and EDITION JUNIOR. Endpoints included incidence and time to first occurrence of SH. Among 629 and 626 participants randomized to Gla-300 and Gla-100, respectively, glycated haemoglobin reductions were similar. Fewer participants experienced ≥1 SH event with Gla-300 (6.2%) than with Gla-100 (9.3%). From baseline to month 6, the risk of a first SH event was lower with Gla-300: hazard ratio 0.65 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.44-0.98; stratified log-rank test P = 0.038]. SH event rates were numerically lower with Gla-300 versus Gla-100 from baseline to month 6 [relative risk (RR) 0.80 (95% CI 0.49-1.29); P = 0.356] and baseline to week 8 [RR 0.73 (95% CI 0.37-1.44); P = 0.369]. Thus, Gla-300 demonstrated similar glycaemic control with lower risk of SH versus Gla-100, particularly during the titration period.

Reporting of hypoglycaemia in clinical trials of basal insulins: A need for consensus

Hypoglycaemia is a common side-effect of diabetes therapies, particularly insulin, and imposes a substantial burden on individuals and healthcare systems. Consequently, regulatory approval of newer basal insulin (BI) therapies has relied on demonstration of a balance between achievement of good glycaemic control and less hypoglycaemia. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for assessing efficacy and safety, including hypoglycaemia risk, of BIs and are invaluable for obtaining regulatory approval. However, their highly selected patient populations and their conditions lead to results that may not be representative of real-life situations. Real-world evidence (RWE) studies are more representative of clinical practice, but they also have limitations. As such, data both from RCTs and RWE studies provide a fuller picture of the hypoglycaemia risk with BI therapies. However, substantial differences exist in the way hypoglycaemia is reported across these studies, which confounds comparisons of hypoglycaemia frequency among different BIs. This problem is ongoing and persists in recent trials of second-generation BI analogues. Although they provide a lower risk of hypoglycaemia when compared with earlier BIs, they do not eliminate it. This review describes differences in the way hypoglycaemia is reported across RCTs and RWE studies of second-generation BI analogues and examines potential reasons for these differences. For studies of BIs, there is a need to standardize aspects of design, analysis and methods of reporting to better enable interpretation of the efficacy and safety of such insulins among studies; such aspects include length of follow-up, glycaemic targets, hypoglycaemia definitions and time intervals for determining nocturnal events.

A post-hoc pooled analysis to evaluate the risk of hypoglycaemia with insulin glargine 300 U/mL (Gla-300) versus 100 U/mL (Gla-100) over wider nocturnal windows in individuals with type 2 diabetes on a basal-only insulin regimen

The EDITION trials in type 2 diabetes demonstrated comparable glycaemic control with less nocturnal and anytime (24-hour) hypoglycaemia for insulin glargine 300 U/mL (Gla-300) versus glargine 100 U/mL (Gla-100). However, the predefined nocturnal window (0:00-5:59 AM) may not be the most relevant for clinical practice. This post-hoc analysis compared expansions of the predefined nocturnal interval during basal insulin treatment without prandial insulin. Patient-level, 6-month data, pooled from the EDITION 2 and 3 trials and the EDITION JP 2 trial (N = 1922, basal insulin only) were analysed. Accompanying hypoglycaemia during treatment with Gla-300 was compared to that during treatment with Gla-100, using predefined (0:00-5:59 AM) and expanded (10:00 PM-5:59 AM, 0:00-7:59 AM, 10:00 PM to pre-breakfast SMPG) windows. Confirmed (≤3.9 mmol/L [≤70 mg/dL]) or severe hypoglycaemic events were reported most frequently between 6:00 AM and 8:00 AM. Windows expanded beyond 6:00 AM included more events than other windows. The percentage of participants with at least one event was lower with Gla-300 than Gla-100 in all windows examined. Expanding the nocturnal interval allows better assessment of the risk of hypoglycaemia associated with basal insulin. The risk of nocturnal hypoglycaemia was consistently lower with Gla-300 versus Gla-100 using all four windows.

Effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors on hypoglycaemia in brittle diabetic patients with decreased endogenous insulin secretion

AIMS

The effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2Is) on fasting blood glucose concentration (FBG) in patients with unstable FBG despite undergoing intensive insulin therapy (IIT) remain unclear. This study aimed to identify the effects of SGLT2Is on unstable FBGs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Thirty brittle diabetic patients with unstable FBGs despite undergoing IIT were included in the study. SGLT2Is were added and used in combination. We evaluated the data of the subjects in Evaluation 1 (immediately before using SGLT2Is) and evaluations 2, 3 and 4 (4, 24 and 48 weeks after starting concomitant therapy, respectively). FBGs were measured every day for a period of 28 days immediately before conducting Evaluations 1, 2, 3 and 4. The mean value of the 28 sets of FBG data (FBG mean) and their standard deviation (SD) values were established as each evaluation's FBGs. The changes in the mean values of the 30 subjects as well as their SD before and after concomitant therapy were evaluated.

RESULTS

The concomitant use of SGLT2Is helped reduce not only FBG mean but also SD. FBG max dropped, and the frequency of occurrence of hyperglycaemic FBG (>11.1 mmol/L) decreased. However, FBG min did not drop, and the frequency of occurrence of hypoglycaemic FBG (<3.9 mmol/L) increased. The frequency of occurrence of subjective hypoglycaemia decreased. The decrease in the SD of FBG was related to the decrease in subjective hypoglycaemia.

CONCLUSION

Concomitant use of SGLT2Is in patients with brittle diabetes appears to be useful in terms of improvement of FBG and fewer occurrences of hypoglycaemic events.