In the patients ≥75 years with T2DM and moderate/severe RI receiving vildagliptin 50 mg qd added to background therapy, the AM∆ in HbA1c from baseline (7.8% ± 0.2%) to week 24 endpoint was −1.0% ± 0.2%, while in the patients receiving placebo added to background therapy the AM∆ from baseline (7.9% ± 0.1%) to endpoint was −0.2% ± 0.2% (Fig. 1a). This resulted in a significant between-group difference (vildagliptin–placebo) of −0.8% ± 0.2% (p < 0.001). The percentage of vildagliptin-treated patients (with baseline HbA1c >7.5%) achieving endpoint HbA1c ≤7.5%, a target consistent with the vulnerable patient population [3, 21, 22], was nearly twice that reported in the placebo group (51.9% vs. 26.3%).
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a Adjusted mean (±SEM) change from baseline to week 24 endpoint in HbA1c in patients adding vildagliptin 50 mg qd (n = 49) or placebo (n = 55) to their ongoing background therapy; ∗p < 0.001 ...
FPG also decreased with vildagliptin. The AM∆ in FPG in the vildagliptin group was −1.1 ± 0.6 mmol/L (baseline 8.9 ± 0.5 mmol/L); however, the between-treatment difference (−0.9 ± 0.5 mmol/L) did not achieve statistical significance (p = 0.088).
Body weight remained stable in the vildagliptin group; baseline weight averaged 81.1 ± 2.0 kg and the AM∆ was 0.4 ± 0.7 kg. In the placebo group, the AM∆ was −1.0 ± 0.7 kg from a baseline of 79.8 ± 1.9 kg (p = 0.015 vs. vildagliptin).
The markedly lower glucose level achieved with vildagliptin vs. placebo added to background therapy was not associated with an increased risk of hypoglycemia. Figure 1b shows the frequency of confirmed hypoglycemia over 24 weeks of treatment. The rate of hypoglycemia was 0.49 events per patient-year with vildagliptin and 0.96 events per patient-year with placebo (not significant; p = 0.970). Expressed in absolute number of events, in the vildagliptin group 5 patients reported a total of 11 events, while in the placebo group 4 patients reported a total of 23 events. Furthermore, severe hypoglycemia (i.e. requiring assistance of another party) was rare in both treatment groups (experienced by 1 patient in the vildagliptin group and 0 patients in the placebo group), and no patients in either treatment group discontinued due to hypoglycemia.