ABSTRACT
For many years sulfonylureas have been the mainstay of oral antidiabetic therapy based on their insulinotropic action on beta cells in the pancreatic islets of Langerhans. Several alternative oral agents have now become available, broadening the spectrum of therapeutic alternatives. However, insulinotropic agents target one of the deficits that characterize diabetes mellitus type 2, namely a relative insufficiency of insulin secretion. Their therapeutic efficacy has been proven in several smaller trials, and in a large randomized prospective trial in type 2 diabetes-the U.K. Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS)—and was shown to be similar to the administration of insulin (1). A recent study in the United States compared the glucoselowering potential of insulin with sulfonylureas in a setting of treatment by family practitioners, and found similar potency for either treatment (2). Insulin lowered the glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) by 0.8% and the sulfonylurea by 1.1%, which is comparable to the outcome observed in the UKPDS.
