Liraglutide superior to sitagliptin for glycemic control

The Lancet. 2010;375:1447-1456. [April 24, 2010]

In type 2 diabetes patients who have inadequate glycemic control on metformin therapy, liraglutide injections are well tolerated and are more effective than oral sitagliptin in reducing HbA_1c, according to researchers from University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington. They conducted a 26-week parallel-group, open-label trial in which they randomly assigned participants with type 2 diabetes to receive 1.2 or 1.8 mg subcutaneous liraglutide or 100 mg oral sitagliptin once daily. Enrolled patients had all been on metformin at a dose of at least 1,500 mg/day for at least three months with suboptimal glycemic control. The researchers found that liraglutide reduced HbA_1c by 1.50 and 1.24 percent, respectively, for the 1.8 and 1.2 mg dosages; sitagliptin reduced HbA_1c by 0.90 percent.