Short-term intensive insulin therapy at diagnosis in type 2 diabetes: plan for filling the gaps

Targeting immunometabolic pathways for combination therapy in Alzheimer's disease

The recent success of disease-modifying anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies in slowing Alzheimer's disease (AD) symptoms has been an exciting step forward for the field. Despite successfully clearing amyloid from the brain, however, only modest symptomatic improvement has been demonstrated, and treatment-related side effects such as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) limit use for some. These limitations suggest that fully efficacious AD treatment may require combination therapy regimens, as are used in other complex disorders such as cancer and HIV. One reasonable strategy may be to use agents that address the biological changes that predict future amyloid accumulation, or accompany amyloid accumulation in preclinical disease states. Immunometabolic pathways, including the insulin signaling pathway, are dysregulated at the earliest stages of AD, concomitant with amyloid accumulation. It is plausible that agents that target these pathways may work synergistically with anti-amyloid therapies to halt AD progression. Insulin signaling is integrally involved in innate and adaptive immune systems, with pleiotropic effects that moderate pro- and anti-inflammatory responses. Metabolic modulators that enhance insulin sensitivity and function, such as GLP-1 receptor agonists, SGLT2 inhibitors, and insulin itself have been shown to improve immune function and reduce chronic inflammation. Additional effects of insulin and metabolic modulators demonstrated in preclinical and clinical studies of AD include increased clearance of amyloid-β, slowed tau progression, improved vascular function and lipid metabolism, reduced synaptotoxicity, and improved cognitive and functional outcomes. A large number of compounds that treat metabolic disorders have been extensively characterized with respect to mechanism of action and safety, and thus are readily available to be repurposed for combination therapy protocols. Determining the most successful combination regimens of these agents together with disease-modifying therapies, and the appropriate timing of treatment, are promising next steps in the quest to treat and prevent AD.

Efficacy of a basal insulin dose management smartphone application for controlling fasting blood glucose in patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus: A single-centre, randomised clinical study

OBJECTIVE

To explore the efficacy and safety of the 'Walk with you' application for titrating basal insulin (BI) doses in type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) hospitalised patients.

METHODS

This was a randomised, single-centre, open-label, controlled clinical trial to compare the changes in fasting blood glucose (FBG) and postprandial blood glucose (PBG), time to reach target FBG (FBG-TRT), incidence of hypoglycaemia events and FBG coefficient of variation in the application group (weight-based titration of BI dose regimen) and control group (typical adjustment regimen).

PATIENTS

This study selected 173 patients with T2DM using basal-prandial insulin therapy who were admitted to Binhaiwan Central Hospital of Dongguan between December 2021 and December 2022. Patients were randomised to the control group or the application group (App group) and then titrated to achieve an FBG concentration of less than 7.0 mmol/L.

RESULTS

There were 86 patients in the control group and 87 patients in the App group. The FBG concentrations in the control and App groups were decreased by 6.77 ± 4.75 and 5.95 ± 4.06 mmol/L, respectively. The FBG-TRTs in the control and App groups were 3.80 ± 1.52 and 2.82 ± 1.34 days, respectively (p < .001). Fewer patients in the control group reached the FBG-TRT within 3 days than in the App group, with 46.5% and 71.3% of patients reaching that target, respectively. There was no significant between-group difference in hypoglycaemia incidence.

CONCLUSION

The use of this weight-based insulin dose titration protocol for BI app is effective and safe for achieving the target FBG in noncritically ill patients with T2DM and is free, easy to use and user friendly.

The effect of short-term intensive insulin therapy on inflammatory cytokines in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND

Diabetes mellitus was a chronic low-grade inflammatory disease and had increased circulating inflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins. We aimed to identify the changes of inflammatory cytokines in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients after short-term intensive insulin therapy using continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII).

METHODS

Thirty-three newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients were enrolled between September 2020 to December 2020. Expression of 40 inflammatory cytokines of the patients were tested with RayBiotech antibody array before and after 1 week of intensive insulin therapy of CSII. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis was carried out to explore the signaling pathway involved in the therapy.

RESULTS

Five inflammatory cytokines were downregulated significantly after 1 week of CSII therapy. They were interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R), regulated upon activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), and platelet-derived growth factor type BB (PDGF-BB) (p < 0.05 and foldchange <0.83). Among patients with baseline glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) < 10%, three proinflammatory cytokines were decreased significantly after therapy: IL-6R, RANTES, and ICAM-1. As for the patients with baseline HbA1c ≥ 10%, eight inflammatory cytokines were inhibited significantly after the treatment, including ICAM-1, IL-6R, RANTES, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, macrophage inflammatory protein-1 beta (MIP-1β), PDGF-BB, and tumor necrosis factor receptor type II (TNF RII). No matter which subgroup of baseline HbA1c level was considered, the decreased cytokines after CSII therapy were significantly involved in TNF signaling pathway. Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway was mainly enriched in patients with baseline HbA1c ≥ 10%.

CONCLUSIONS

A panel of 40 inflammatory cytokines, measured by protein microarray, were evaluated for 1 week of CSII treatment in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients. After treatment, many proinflammatory cytokines decreased. In the higher baseline HbA1c subgroup, more proinflammatory cytokines improved. No matter which subgroup of HbA1c level was considered, IL-6R, RANTES, and ICAM-1, which were involved in TNF signaling pathway, decreased significantly after CSII therapy. This was the first report showing that the cytokines of IL-6R, TIMP-2, PDGF-BB, and TNF RII decreased after the CSII therapy.

Practical application of short-term intensive insulin therapy based on the concept of "treat to target" to reduce hypoglycaemia in routine clinical site

The aim is to devise a new short-term intensive insulin therapy (N-SIIT) based on the concept of "treat to target" to avoid hypoglycaemia and was applied it to various diabetic state. We determined dosage of 1 basal and 3 bolus "treat" insulin based on "target" blood glucose level and changed each insulin dose by small units (2 units) every day for 2 weeks. We evaluated the effects of N-SIIT in 74 subjects with type 2 diabetes (male 45, female 29, 64.9 ± 16.6 years old, HbA1c 10.4 ± 2.6%). Glargine U300 ("treat") and morning blood glucose level ("target") was significantly correlated with increasing insulin dose and decreasing blood glucose level in day 1-7, indicating that insulin amount was determined by target blood glucose level and lowered next target blood glucose level. Remission rates were 67.3% (Hypoglycaemia rate 5.6 %) in N-SIIT and 47.3% (Hypoglycaemia rate 38.1%) in conventional SIIT. Required amount of insulin would be automatically determined, depending on each patient pathophysiology and life style. This method is pretty simple, flexible and cheap, and provides information about the dynamic pathophysiological alteration of insulin resistance and glucotoxicity from the profile of blood glucose levels and insulin shot.

Evaluation of effectiveness of treatment paradigm for newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients in Chin: A nationwide prospective cohort study

AIMS/INTRODUCTION

Data of nationwide glycemic control and hypoglycemic treatment patterns in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients in China are absent. The aim of this study was to assess the evolution of treatment patterns for newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients and the clinical outcomes during 12-month follow up.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is an observational prospective cohort study with 12 months of follow up. Patients with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes for <6 months were enrolled. Glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and hypoglycemic treatment patterns were collected at baseline and at every 3 months of follow up.

RESULTS

A total of 79 hospitals were recruited, consisting of 5,770 participants. The mean HbA1c was 8.4 ± 2.5% at baseline, and decreased to 6.7 ± 1.2% at 12 months with 68.5% of patients achieving HbA1c <7%. At baseline, 44.6% of the patients were without hypoglycemic medications, 37.7% had oral hypoglycemic agents and 17.7% received insulin treatment. Determinants of change in HbA1c were treatment patterns, comorbidities, baseline characteristics such as obesity and smoking, regions, and tiers of hospitals. Associated factors with treatment alterations were time of follow up, treatment patterns, patient-reported reasons such as the economic factors and poor efficacy.

CONCLUSIONS

In newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients, compared with patients without medications, patients with one oral hypoglycemic agent had higher possibilities of reaching glycemic control, whereas patients using insulin had lower possibilities of reaching the target. Factors associated with change in HbA1c and treatment alterations were also revealed.

Predicting and understanding the response to short-term intensive insulin therapy in people with early type 2 diabetes

OBJECTIVE

Short-term intensive insulin therapy (IIT) early in the course of type 2 diabetes acutely improves beta-cell function with long-lasting effects on glycemic control. However, conventional measures cannot determine which patients are better suited for IIT, and little is known about the molecular mechanisms determining response. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a model that could accurately predict the response to IIT and provide insight into molecular mechanisms driving such response in humans.

METHODS

Twenty-four patients with early type 2 diabetes were assessed at baseline and four weeks after IIT, consisting of basal detemir and premeal insulin aspart. Twelve individuals had a beneficial beta-cell response to IIT (responders) and 12 did not (nonresponders). Beta-cell function was assessed by multiple methods, including Insulin Secretion-Sensitivity Index-2. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) were profiled in plasma samples before and after IIT. The response to IIT was modeled using a machine learning algorithm and potential miRNA-mediated regulatory mechanisms assessed by differential expression, correlation, and functional network analyses (FNA).

RESULTS

Baseline levels of circulating miR-145-5p, miR-29c-3p, and HbA1c accurately (91.7%) predicted the response to IIT (OR = 121 [95% CI: 6.7, 2188.3]). Mechanistically, a previously described regulatory loop between miR-145-5p and miR-483-3p/5p, which controls TP53-mediated apoptosis, appears to also occur in our study population of humans with early type 2 diabetes. In addition, significant (fold change > 2, P < 0.05) longitudinal changes due to IIT in the circulating levels of miR-138-5p, miR-192-5p, miR-195-5p, miR-320b, and let-7a-5p further characterized the responder group and significantly correlated (|r| > 0.4, P < 0.05) with the changes in measures of beta-cell function and insulin sensitivity. FNA identified a network of coordinately/cooperatively regulated miRNA-targeted genes that potentially drives the IIT response through negative regulation of apoptotic processes that underlie beta cell dysfunction and concomitant positive regulation of proliferation.

CONCLUSIONS

Responses to IIT in people with early type 2 diabetes are associated with characteristic miRNA signatures. This study represents a first step to identify potential responders to IIT (a current limitation in the field) and provides important insight into the pathophysiologic determinants of the reversibility of beta-cell dysfunction. ClinicalTrial.gov identifier: NCT01270789.

Should the last be first? Questions and dilemmas regarding early short-term insulin treatment in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

INTRODUCTION

Early short-term insulin treatment (STIT), defined as insulin administration shortly after diabetes diagnosis for only a brief period of time, is an alternative concept, aiming to entirely revise the perspective of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) management.

AREAS COVERED

The present review intends to summarize what is already known regarding early STIT in T2DM and highlight questions and dilemmas from the clinician's point of view, with a discourse on future research agenda.

EXPERT OPINION

STIT has the potential to modify the natural history of T2DM, resulting in improved drug-free remission rates by favorably affecting the underlying pathophysiology of the disease. Existing data in the field manifest significant weaknesses, mainly being the small number of trials and patients included, the lack of control groups in most studies and the wide heterogeneity between study designs and explored outcomes, which limit definitive conclusions. Therefore, before such a therapeutic strategy is incorporated into daily practice, important issues require further clarification by future trials. These issues include the optimal time point for the intervention, the ideal insulin type, the identification of patients being most likely to benefit, the STIT effects on cardiovascular and other clinical outcomes and the cost-effectiveness evaluation of this therapeutic strategy.

ABBREVIATIONS

T2DM: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus; HbA_1C: Hemoglobin A_1c; OHA: Oral Hypoglycemic Agents; STIT: Short-term Insulin Treatment; CSII: Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion; MDI: Multiple Daily Injections; PPG: Postprandial Plasma Glucose; FPG: Fasting Plasma Glucose; HOMA-b: Homeostasis Model Assessment of beta-cell function; TDD: Total Daily Insulin Dose; DI: Disposition Index; HOMA-IR: Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance; ROS: Reactive Oxygen Species; TNF: Tumor Necrosis Factor; GLP-1: Glucagon-like peptide-1; GIP: Glucose-dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide; BMI: Body Mass Index; CV: Cardiovascular; DR: Diabetic Retinopathy; SU: Sulfonylurea; IGI: Insulinogenic Index.

Lower mean blood glucose during short-term intensive insulin therapy is associated with long-term glycemic remission in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes: Evidence-based recommendations for standardization

AIMS/INTRODUCTION

Optimal glycemic targets during short-term intensive insulin therapy in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes are not standardized. The present study was carried out to determine the optimal glycemic targets during therapy by analyzing the impacts of glucose levels on therapeutic outcomes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 95 individuals with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes were enrolled. Short-term intensive insulin therapy was carried out using an insulin pump to achieve and maintain glycemic targets (fasting blood glucose ≤6.0 mmol/L, 2-h postprandial blood glucose ≤7.8 mmol/L) for 14 days, with daily eight-point capillary blood glucose profiles recorded. Patients were followed up for 1 year after discharge.

RESULTS

In most participants, the mean blood glucose and glycemic excursion parameters during the therapy were controlled within the normal range. Mean blood glucose was independently associated with amelioration of acute insulin response (r = -0.25, P = 0.015) and 1-year remission (odds ratio 0.12, 95% confidence interval 0.034-0.426), but negatively associated with more level 1 hypoglycemia (r = -0.34, P = 0.001), although major hypoglycemia was rare. Among mean blood glucose tertiles, patients in the middle (68.7%) and lower (75.0%) tertiles had a higher 1-year remission rate compared with the upper tertile (32.3%, both P < 0.001), whereas only the middle tertile did not have increased hypoglycemia compared with the upper tertile (8.1 ± 5.4 vs 7.2 ± 3.9 events/person, P = 0.48).

CONCLUSIONS

Stricter glycemic control during short-term intensive insulin therapy produced more remission despite self-manageable hypoglycemia. Based on glycemic parameters in the middle mean tertile, we propose new glycemic targets that are approximately 0.4 mmol/L lower than current the targets, as long-term benefit outweighs short-term risks.

Fasting Plasma Glucose Indicates Reversibility of the Acute Insulin Response after Short-Term Intensive Insulin Therapy in Patients with Various Duration of Type 2 Diabetes

Recovery of acute insulin response (AIR) is shown to be associated with long-term outcomes of patients with early type 2 diabetes treated with short-term intensive insulin therapy (SIIT). However, the complexity of measuring an AIR limits its utility in a real-world clinical setting. The aim of the study was to assess fasting indicators that may estimate recovery of the AIR after SIIT. We enrolled 62 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) of varying disease duration who had poor glycemic control. Participants were treated with SIIT using insulin pumps to achieve near normoglycemia for 7 days. The AIR before and after the therapy were measured by intravenous glucose tolerance tests. After the therapy, AIR increased from -16.7 (-117.4, 52.4) pmol/L·min to 178.7 (31.8, 390.7) pmol/L·min (P < 0.001) while hyperglycemia was alleviated; this improvement was observed in all disease duration categories. AIR was almost absent when fasting plasma glucose (FPG) > 10 mmol/L, while both AIR (R = -0.53, P < 0.001) and its improvement from baseline (△AIR, R = -0.52, P < 0.001) were negatively associated with FPG after SIIT when FPG < 10 mmol/L. In multivariate analyses, FPG after SIIT and baseline fasting C peptide were independent indicators of both AIR after the therapy and ∆AIR; HDL-C after the therapy also predicted AIR after the therapy. We concluded that recovery of the AIR could be obtained in T2DM patients of varying disease duration by SIIT and it could be conveniently estimated using posttreatment fasting plasma glucose and other fasting indicators.

Short-term intensive insulin therapy could be the preferred option for new onset Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with HbA1c > 9

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a heterogeneous disease. Currently, the typical clinical therapeutic pathway for the disease consists of the stepwise addition of antihyperglycemic preparations over time, followed lastly by insulin therapy when functional β-cell capacity is severely deteriorated. Recognizing the complexity of disease management, personalized (precision) medicine approaches may enable the physician to tailor diabetes treatment based on HbA1c levels, body mass index (BMI), efficacy, risk of hypoglycemia, risk of weight gain, age, safety, cost, and even genetic characteristics. Although insulin therapy has traditionally been recommended as the last option in the sequential treatment algorithm of T2DM, it is notable that several guidelines and consensus statements suggest consideration of insulin as part of a first-line regimen. In the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE)/American College of Endocrinology (ACE) comprehensive T2DM 2017 management algorithm, insulin is recommended for T2DM patients presenting with symptoms and an HbA1c >9.0%. In addition, the American Diabetes Association (ADA)/European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) consensus statement recommends initial insulin therapy as an option when HbA1c ≥9%, and definite consideration with HbA1c ≥10-12%, and mentions that it may be possible to taper off insulin once initial glucotoxicity is reversed and to consider transfer to other types of non-insulin therapies. Based on accumulating evidence, an expert group has endorsed the concept of short-term intensive insulin (STII) therapy as an option for some patients with T2DM at the time of diagnosis. Notably, the latest Israeli guidelines suggest considering immediate, sometimes short-term, insulin treatment for patients with HbA1c >9% or with symptoms. It has been reported that nearly one-quarter (23%) of newly diagnosed T2DM patients in the US had an HbA1c ≥9.0% prior to initiation of treatment. For such patients, initiating insulin is difficult, although it has been almost 10 years since the ACE/AACE Diabetes Road Map suggested insulin therapy for treatment-naïve patients with high HbA1c. Lack of patient education resources in primary care and of provider knowledge as to approaches to insulin treatment (insulin initiation dosage, multiple daily injection or basal insulin supplement, insulin treatment duration) are major obstacles to selecting appropriately intensive but also timely therapy for newly diagnosed T2DM patients in clinical practice so as to minimize avoidable glycemic exposure. Treatment with STII early in the course of T2DM is of considerable interest. There is a wide range of evidence currently available supporting the use of STII therapy in newly diagnosed T2DM. For example, STII can quickly normalize glycemic control, improve β-cell function, restore first-phase insulin secretion, and even reduce glucagonemia in newly diagnosed T2DM, suggesting that it may provide unique capacity for modification of the natural process of diabetes. The largest and most robust clinical trial of STII therapy enrolled 382 newly diagnosed people with T2DM at nine centers in China and randomized them to either insulin (short-term continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion [CSII] or multiple daily injections [MDI]) or oral anti-hyperglycemic therapy. First-phase insulin secretion was increased in all three groups after 2 weeks of normoglycemia. Remission rates at 1 year were higher in the two insulin-treated groups (51.1% in the CSII group, 44.9% in the MDI group) than in the oral therapy group (26.7%). Furthermore, the increase in first-phase insulin response was maintained at 1 year in the two insulin-treated groups, but declined in the group allocated to oral medication (Fig. ). A beneficial effect of insulin therapy over oral anti-diabetic agents was also observed by Chen et al. [Figure: see text] A meta-analysis, including seven studies and 839 participants, further underscored the robustness of the evidence supporting STII therapy by showing that the proportion of patients in drug-free remission was 66.2% at 3 months, 58.9% at 6 months, 46.3% at 12 months, and 42.1% at 24 months. All but one study showed an improvement in β-cell function, as assessed by homeostatic model assessment of β-cell function (HOMA-B), and all but one study showed a decrease in insulin resistance, as assessed by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Therefore, STII has beneficial effects on both the fundamental pathophysiological mechanisms of T2DM (β-cell dysfunction and insulin resistance). Recent animal studies suggest a potential mechanism for such clinical benefits: β-cells dedifferentiate to endocrine progenitor-like cells during stress-induced hyperglycemia, and strictly normalizing blood glucose by insulin therapy could induce dedifferentiated cell redifferentiation to mature β-cells, and hence restoration of drug responsivity. In addition to its glucose-lowering activity, insulin may contribute to improved β-cell function by its antilipolytic, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects. We recognized that not all newly diagnosed people with T2DM would experience improved β-cell function or achieve long-term remission following cessation of STII. It would be worthwhile to precisely identify the subpopulation more likely to benefit from this strategy. Previous studies have suggested that lower baseline fasting glucose, higher BMI, better early phase insulin secretion, and lower exogenous insulin requirements may be predictors of diabetes remission in newly diagnosed patients treated with STII therapy. A recent study demonstrated that a shorter duration of diabetes supplanted baseline HbA1c and β-cell function as an independent predictor of remission. In particular, diabetes duration <2 years predicted sustained remission, suggesting that the key determinant of inducing persistent drug-free diabetes remission with STII is early intervention. Although reluctance to initiate insulin treatment in T2DM is well described, it is interesting to see that when introduced early in the course of the disease as a short-term treatment, STII resulted in significant improvement in patient-reported quality of life and treatment satisfaction, demonstrating the patient acceptability of early insulin therapy. In our clinical experience, patients often request insulin resumption after a trial has ended because of the good clinical outcomes and the recognition that such treatment is much easier and better tolerated than expected. The pros and cons of STII therapy for new-onset T2DM patients with HbA1c >9%, based on current evidence and our understanding, are listed in Table . It is important that STII be considered an option at this early stage of the disease. Existing studies and clinical experience do indicate that this concept is very well received by patients and clinicians alike, especially when they realize that insulin only needs to be used for a few weeks, and that STII at that point in time does not necessarily require continuing long-term insulin therapy. Numerous public health, clinical efficacy and effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness questions need to be better understood before widespread adoption of this novel treatment regimen can be more endorsed. [Table: see text].

The intriguing effects of time to glycemic goal in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes after short-term intensive insulin therapy

Short-term intensive insulin therapy is effective for type 2 diabetes because it offers the potential to achieve excellent glycemic control and improve β-cell function. We observed that the time to glycemic goal (TGG) was adjustable. Original data of 138 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients received intensive insulin therapy by continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion for 2-3 weeks were retrospectively collected. Subjects underwent an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) pre and post treatment. The glycemic goal was achieved within 6 (4-8) days. Patients were divided into two groups by TGG above (TGG-slow) and below (TGG-fast) the median value. Patients in both groups had significantly better glycemic control. Compared with TGG-fast, TGG-slow required a few more total insulin and performed more improvement of HOMA-β and IVGTT-AUCIns, but less improvement of HOMA-IR and QUICKI. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that TGG was always an explanatory variable for the changes (HOMA-β, IVGTT-AUCIns, HOMA-IR and QUICKI). The hypoglycemia prevalence was lower in TGG-slow (1.48% vs. 3.40%, P<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that individuals in TGG-slow had a lower risk of hypoglycemia (adjusted OR, 0.700; 95% CI, 0.567-0.864; P<0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis confirmed that the ratio of the incremental insulin to glucose responses over the first 30 min during OGTT (ΔIns30/ΔG30), average insulin dose before achieving targets, initial insulin dose and LDL-c were independent predictors for TGG. It is intriguing to hypothesize that patients with fast time to glycemic goal benefit more in improving insulin sensitivity, but patients with slow time benefit more in improving β-cell function and reducing the risk of hypoglycemia.