When added to metformin, gliclazide has lowest risk of hypoglycemia of newer generation sulfonylureas
FRIDAY, Aug. 26, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Of the newer generation sulfonylureas (SUs), gliclazide is associated with the lowest risk of hypoglycemia when added to metformin, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published online Aug. 3 in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
Stig Ejdrup Andersen, M.D., Ph.D., from Zealand University Hospital, and Mikkel Christensen, M.D., Ph.D., from Bispebjerg University Hospital, both in Denmark, conducted a systematic literature review to compare the relative risk of hypoglycemia with newer generation SUs added to metformin. Data were included for 13 trials of SUs and 14 of oral non-SU antihyperglycemic agents (16,260 patients).
The researchers found that hypoglycemia was the only adverse event reported. The risk of hypoglycemia was lowest with gliclazide versus glipizide (odds ratio [OR], 0.22; 95 percent credibility interval [CrI], 0.05 to 0.96), glimepiride (OR, 0.40; 95 percent CrI, 0.13 to 1.27), and glibenclamide (OR, 0.21; 95 percent CrI, 0.03 to 1.48), with comparable reductions in glycated hemoglobin of −0.66 to −0.84 percent. The definition of hypoglycemia varied across studies.
“When added to metformin, gliclazide was associated with the lowest risk of hypoglycemia between the newer generation SUs,” the authors write. “Clinicians should consider the risk of hypoglycemia agent-specific when selecting an SU agent.”
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