Sitagliptin beneficial for T1 Diabetes.

      A study conducted in 19 T1 diabetes patients under the lead researcher Samuel L. Ellis Pharm D, (Barbara Davis Centre for Childhood Diabetes, Aurora, Colorado,) and colleagues found that there was a reduction from the baseline A1c of 9.2% to 8.8% while on placebo and then continued to drop to 8.6% when treated with sitagliptin 100 mg daily. The declines seen with sitagliptin versus placebo achieved statistical significance (P = .025). The patients in the study had a mean age of 32 years and had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes for 10 to 28 years.

      The researchers are of the opinion that, more studies involving larger numbers of candidates are required to further define the efficacy and safety of sitagliptin in patients with Type 1 diabetes.

      The preliminary observation does not indicate use of sitagliptin in T1 diabetes. It is still contraindicated- JDC editorial

New Diabetes Manager System gets green light from FDA

      Being in development for more than five years, WellDoc's Diabetes Manager System has just received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 510(k) clearance to be marketed to health care providers and adult patients with type 2 diabetes, the company announced.

      This advanced system supports medication adherence and securely provides for the capture, storage, and real-time transmission of blood glucose data and other diabetes self-management information. This information then undergoes analysis by the company's proprietary Automated Expert Analytics System™, which identifies underlying patterns and then delivers relevant educational and behavioral patient coaching and provider decision support, thus enabling effective lifestyle and medication adjustments.

New Drug for weight loss

      A new drug Lorcaserin a selective serotonin 2C receptor agonist could be useful in reducing body weight.

In a double-blind clinical trial, randomly assigned 3182 obese or overweight adults (mean body-mass index [the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters] of 36.2) to receive lorcaserin at a dose of 10 mg, or placebo, twice daily for 52 weeks. All patients also underwent diet and exercise counselling. At week 52, patients in the placebo group continued to receive placebo but patients in the lorcaserin group were randomly reassigned to receive either placebo or lorcaserin.

      At 1 year, more patients in the lorcaserin group than placebo group had lost at least 5% of their body weight (48% vs. 20% of patients; mean weight loss: 5.8 kg vs. 2.2 kg). In addition, was also observed that, lorcaserin patients who stayed on the drug for a second year were more likely to maintain their weight loss than those who switched to placebo.

      The lead researcher Steven R. Smit said "This drug seems to be extremely safe, with almost no side effects," he says. "The flip side of the coin is that the weight loss produced was not dramatic. But we know that even a 5% weight loss, which many patients achieved with this drug in combination with diet, can lower the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Implanted Wireless Glucose Sensor Lasts longer without tissue encapsulation

      Researchers from the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), and GlySens Incorporated have demonstrated that an implanted glucose sensor with potential to transform the management of diabetes has passed a crucial test: the device they developed worked continuously for over a year, without showing signs of "tissue encapsulation" seen in trials with other similar device, thanks to a unique oxygen detection scheme.

      This gadget measures glucose by taking in glucose and oxygen from surrounding tissue and using the enzyme glucose oxidase to catalyze a reaction where oxygen is consumed in proportion to the amount of glucose present. Any oxygen left over is measured and compared to the baseline oxygen recorded by a reference sensor, so the difference indicates how much glucose is present and this device is able to identify blood sugar excursions.