Chronic treatment of African-American type 2 diabetic patients with α-glucosidase inhibition

OBJECTIVE- To evaluate the long-term efficacy safety and tolerability of the alpha-glucosidase inhibitor miglitol in the treatment of African-American patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS- A total of 345 African-American type 2 diabetic patients (mean age 55.6 years, BMI 31.9 kg/m(2), duration of diabetes 4.9 years, baseline HbA(1c) 8.7%) treated with either diet alone or sulfonylurea were randomized to 1 year of double-blind treatment with either placebo (n = 117) or miglitol (n = 228) at doses of 50 or 100 mg t.i.d., titrated based on tolerability. The primary efficacy criterion was change from baseline in HbA(1c) at the 6-month visit. Secondary efficacy parameters included changes from baseline in plasma glucose and serum insulin (both fasting and 120 min after a standardized test meal), fasting lipids, and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio. Safety and tolerability evaluations were primarily based on reporting of adverse events and symptoms and on periodic laboratory analyses. RESULTS- Miglitol treatment was associated with a mean placebo-subtracted reduction in HbA(1c) from baseline of 1.19% at 6 months. Fasting and 120-min postprandial plasma glucose levels were reduced in parallel to HbA(1c), in association with miglitol treatment. Significant reductions versus placebo in 120-min postprandial insulin levels, in LDL cholesterol, and in fasting triglycerides, were also seen in the miglitol group at individual study time points. Softer, more frequent stools and flatulence were significantly more common in the miglitol group. Urinary tract infections, hematuria, and herpes simplex infections were significantly more common in the placebo group. CONCLUSIONS- Miglitol treatment appears to he at least as efficacious in the African-American type 2 population as in the U.S, type 2 population at large, with comparable tolerability. alpha-Glucosidase treatment may be an important therapeutic option in these patients in view of their greater risk for microvascular complications and the accumulating body of evidence that better glucose control reduces the risk of these complications.