Changes in clinical and metabolic variables and measures of DPN after 1 year of exenatide plus pioglitazone or insulin treatment
| Exenatide plus pioglitazone (n=21) | Basal-bolus insulin (n=17) | P value1 | P value2 | |||||
| 1-year follow-up | Change | 1-year follow-up | Change | |||||
| HbA1c, mmol/mol | 51.4 | ±12.0 | −35.2**** | 60.2 | ±18.2 | −28.7**** | 0.1 | <0.05 |
| Hb1Ac, % | 6.9 | ±1.1 | −3.8**** | 7.7 | ±1.7 | −2.7**** | ||
| Total cholesterol, mmol/L | 4.2 | ±0.8 | −0.5*** | 4.5 | ±0.9 | −0.8* | 0.28 | 0.40 |
| Triglyceride, mmol/L | 1.6 | ±1.3 | −0.4* | 1.4 | ±0.7 | −0.4 | 0.57 | 1.00 |
| HDL, mmol/L | 1.2 | ±0.3 | −0.1 | 1.1 | ±0.2 | −0.1 | 0.40 | 0.82 |
| LDL, mmol/L | 2.2 | ±0.8 | −0.4** | 2.7 | ±0.8 | −0.3 | 0.06 | 0.92 |
| Systolic BP, mm Hg | 123.4 | ±16.8 | −3.0 | 130.4 | ±15.8 | −0.4 | 0.20 | 0.65 |
| Diastolic BP, mm Hg | 69.3 | ±10.5 | −8.9**** | 73.9 | ±10.6 | −3.8 | 0.20 | 0.14 |
| Body weight, kg | 93.5 | ±22.0 | 5.6**** | 88.9 | ±15.8 | 4.6** | 0.47 | 0.62 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 33.2 | ±7.3 | 0.8* | 30.1 | ±5.5 | −0.3 | 0.17 | 0.09 |
| Diabetic retinopathy, n (%) | 13/16 | (81.3) | 8** | 6/9 | (66.7) | 2 | 0.41 | |
| Neuropathic pain, n (%) | 2/18 | (11.1) | −2 | 2/12 | (16.7) | 0 | 0.66 | |
| CNFD, fibers/mm2 | 26.6 | ±5.3 | 0.6 | 30.8 | ±8.9 | 2.0 | 0.11 | 0.61 |
| CNBD, branches/mm2 | 76.0 | ±38.6 | 19.0* | 97.4 | ±54.2 | 27.2** | 0.20 | 0.51 |
| CNFL, mm/mm2 | 19.7 | ±4.8 | 1.9 | 21.7 | ±5.8 | 2.3** | 0.28 | 0.79 |
| VPT, V | 9.0 | ±5.4 | 1.7* | 8.7 | ±5.9 | −2.8** | 0.87 | 0.001 |
| ESC feet, µS | 61.8 | ±23.4 | 2.0 | 65.5 | ±15.3 | −1.7 | 0.65 | 0.53 |
P value1 for combination vs insulin therapy at 1-year follow-up.
P value2 for combination vs insulin therapy changes at 1-year follow-up.
Numeric variables and frequency distribution for categorical variables are summarized as means±SD or n (%). Continuous variable between exenatide plus pioglitazone and insulin treatment were compared using unpaired t-test. Categorical variables were compared using χ2. Changes between baseline and 1-year follow-up were compared using paired t-test: *p≤0.05, **p≤0.01, ***p≤0.001, ****p≤0.0001.
BMI, body mass index; BP, blood pressure; CNBD, corneal nerve branch density; CNFD, corneal nerve fiber density; CNFL, corneal nerve fiber length; DPN, diabetic peripheral neuropathy; ESC, electrochemical skin conductance; HDL, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; VPT, vibration perception threshold.