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Usefulness of the addition of metformin to insulin in pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus
Author(s) -
Urakami Tatsuhiko,
Morimoto Shigeo,
Owada Misao,
Harada Kensuke
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
pediatrics international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.49
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1442-200X
pISSN - 1328-8067
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-200x.2005.02075.x
Subject(s) - medicine , metformin , insulin , diabetes mellitus , body mass index , glycemic , overweight , type 2 diabetes mellitus , type 2 diabetes , endocrinology , adverse effect , lactic acidosis
Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of metformin in addition to insulin therapy in adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus.Methods: Nine patients, two males and seven females, aged 18.1 ± 3.0 years, with type 1 diabetes mellitus were studied. They were relatively overweight with a body mass index (BMI) of 24.2 ± 1.8 and had high levels of HbA1c at 9.5 ± 1.2% despite high doses of insulin of 74.0 ± 31.2 U/day. Metformin at the dose of 500–750 mg daily was administered to the patients in addition to insulin therapy for 1 year.Results: HbA1c, BMI and insulin dose were compared before 1 year without metformin therapy, at baseline, and at 3, 6 and 12 months during the use of metformin in addition to insulin therapy. HbA1c lowered (8.6 ± 1.4**, 8.4 ± 1.3**, 8.4 ± 1.2*%), BMI was reduced (23.9 ± 1.7*, 23.8 ± 1.8, 23.5 ± 1.8*), and insulin requirement decreased (69.8 ± 29.7*, 68.7 ± 29.8**, 67.3 ± 29.1**U/d) significantly after the start of metformin therapy (* P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01 vs at baseline). There were no adverse events, not even lactic acidosis, during the study period.Conclusion: Metformin is safe and may represent a useful adjunct to the management of type 1 diabetes mellitus in adolescents and young adults who have poor glycemic control despite a large amount of insulin.