A common first-line therapeutic for type 2 diabetes is the metformin drug used to stabilize blood glucose levels. Although the drug is effective, some type 2 diabetic patients will stop responding to metformin.
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As a result, a clinical trial launched a few years ago to address this challenge. The trial involved two-drugs combo of dapagliflozin and exenatide that was recently shown to be effective after two years of continual use.
"Many therapies in diabetes management are short-lived, which is why it's useful to test for long-term effect," says senior author Serge Jabbour, MD, director of the division of endocrinology and the Diabetes Center at Thomas Jefferson University. "Our study showed that a combo regimen of dapagliflozin and exenatide continued to control patients' glucose for over two years. This is a very encouraging."
Findings were published in Diabetes Care.
"These two classes work synergistically to help control a Type-2 diabetes patient's glucose levels, and other measures associated with diabetes," says Dr. Jabbour. "We can now feel more confident about prescribing these medications long term."
Source: Science Daily