Journal of Clinical Medicine Research, ISSN 1918-3003 print, 1918-3011 online, Open Access
Article copyright, the authors; Journal compilation copyright, J Clin Med Res and Elmer Press Inc
Journal website http://www.jocmr.org

Letter to the Editor

Volume 11, Number 2, February 2019, pages 151-155

Does Metformin Assist New Anti-Diabetic Drugs to Succeed?

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1. Glucose-lowering effects of metformin.
Figure 2.
Figure 2. Effects of dose of metformin and combination of metformin with vildagliptin (DPP4 inhibitor) on glycemic variability, in a 55-year-old type 2 diabetic woman with body mass index of 29.2 kg/m2.
Figure 3.
Figure 3. Percentage of patients who had been taking metformin (or biguanides) in SUSTAIN-6, LEADER Trial, DECLARE-TIMI 58, EMPA-REG OUTCOME and CANVAS program. In only SUSTAIN-6, not metformin but biguanides was written in the table which showed baseline characteristics of the patients.

Table

Table 1. Effects of Combination of Metformin With Incretin-Related Drugs (DPP4 Inhibitors, GLP-1 Analogs) and SGLT2 Inhibitors on Glycemic Variability
 
Effective combination therapyImprovement of glycemic variabilityComparative combination therapy
Takahashi et al. [13]Metformin (750 mg) + linagliptin (5 mg)>Metformin (1,500 mg) monotherapy
Kim et al. [14]Metformin + vildagliptin>Metformin + glimepiride
Kim et al. [15]Metformin (≥ 1,000 mg) + vildagliptin (100 mg)>Metformin (≥ 1,000 mg) + pioglitazone (15 mg)
Kim et al. [16]Metformin + sitagliptin (100 mg)>Metformin + glimepiride (2 mg)
Frias et al. [17]Metformin (≥ 1,500 mg) + once-weekly exenatide (2 mg)>Metformin (≥ 1,500 mg) + placebo
Ma et al. [18]Metformin + liraglutide>Metformin + NPH insulin
Henry et al. [19]Metformin (≥ 1,500 mg) + dapagliflozin (10 mg)>Insulin (≥ 30 units) + dapagliflozin (10 mg)