The evolving frontier of diabetes therapy: The renaissance of glycemology

HbA1c variability and long-term glycemic control are linked to peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 1 diabetes

BACKGROUND

HbA1c variability has been linked to retinopathy, renal disease and autonomic neuropathy in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Although the same relationship has been demonstrated for diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) in patients with T2D, data for T1D are still lacking.

METHODS

Patients older than 17 years of age with ≥ 10 years of T1D duration and follow-up were included. All patients underwent nerve conduction studies and neurological examination. Laboratorial data was retrospectively extracted from chart review. Mean HbA1c (mHbA1c) over 10 years was calculated, as well as HbA1c variability estimated by standard deviation (HbA1c-SD) and coefficient of variation (HbA1c-CV).

RESULTS

Fifty patients with T1D were included (30 females and 21 non-caucasians), with mean age and T1D duration of 25.6 ± 5.0 and 17.9 ± 6.1 years, respectively. The frequency of DPN was 24%. Higher mHbA1c (10.4 ± % vs 8.1 ± %; p < 0.001), HbA1c-SD (1.8 ± 0.8 vs 0.9 ± 0.4; p < 0.001), and HbA1c-CV (1.7 ± 0.8 vs 1.2 ± 1.1; p = 0.006) were observed in patients with DPN compared to others. SD-HbA1c and HbA1c-CV were associated with DPN, diagnosed by either clinical or NCS criteria, independent of mHbA1c, age and gender.

CONCLUSIONS

Not only long-term glycemic control, but also its variability is associated with DPN in patients with T1D. Larger studies are required to confirm this finding.

Real-world use of self-monitoring of blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes: an urgent need for improvement

AIMS

To assess use of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in the context of a continuous quality improvement initiative (AMD Annals).

METHODS

14 quality-of-care indicators were developed, including frequency of SMBG, fasting blood glucose (FBG), and post-prandial glucose (PPG) levels, and hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia episodes. Clinical data and SMBG values downloaded from any glucose meter were obtained from electronic medical records. The most frequently used glucose-lowering treatment regimens were identified and the indicators were assessed separately by regimen.

RESULTS

Overall, 21 Italian centers and 13,331 patients (accounting for 35,657 HbA1c tests and 8.44 million SMBG values collected during 2014 and 2015) were included in the analysis; 11 therapeutic regimens were selected. Patients in regimens not including insulin performed 15-23 measurements per patient-month, those treated with basal insulin 32.1 tests/patient-month, and those treated with basal and short-acting insulin 53-58 tests/patient-month. In all treatment regimens, PPG measurements represented a minority of all tests; pre-breakfast measurements accounted for about 50% of all FBG values. Mean FBG levels exceeded 130 mg/dl in 49.3-88.3% of the cases in the different treatment regimens, while PPG levels were over 140 mg/dl in 46.7-81.0%. From 5.7 to 32.7%, patients in the different regimens had at least one episode of hypoglycemia (< 70 mg/dl), while from 3.7 to 47.7% had at least one episode of hyperglycemia (> 300 mg/dl).

CONCLUSIONS

SMBG is underutilized in patients with T2DM treated or not with insulin. In all treatment groups, PPG is seldom investigated. Poor metabolic control and rates of hyper- and hypoglycemia deserve consideration in all treatment groups.

Definition of the upper reference limit of glycated albumin in blood donors from Italy

Background:

Glycated Albumin (GA) has been proposed as a short-term indicator of glycemic homeostasis. The aim of this study is to describe the distribution of GA in a large sample of blood donors from Italy to evaluate whether demographic features, namely age and sex, could influence GA levels and define specific reference limits.

Methods:

The study included 1334 Italian blood donors. GA was measured using an enzymatic method (quantILab Glycated Albumin, IL Werfen, Germany). The upper reference limit (URL) was calculated using the non-parametric percentile method.

Results:

A modest, although significant, increase of GA was observed in relation to age (p<0.001), especially in males, where the differences were more pronounced (p<0.001 in males, p=0.003 in females). Slight differences were documented based on sex (12% [11.3–12.8] in males; 12.2% [11.4–13.1] in females; p=0.01). After excluding individuals with fasting plasma glucose ≥7 mmol/L, the calculated GA URL was 14.5% (95% CI: 14.3–14.7). Subjects with GA>14.5% presented a mean age of 48.4±12.2 years, 66.7% were males and the mean glucose was 6.88±2.5 mmol/L.

Conclusions:

GA in Caucasians shows a similar increasing trend at older ages documented in other ethnicities. The definition of the URL in this population could be useful for both clinical studies, which will clarify the role of GA for diagnosing and monitoring diabetes, and will encourage the introduction of GA in clinical practice.