Pioglitazone as Add-on Therapy in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Inadequately Controlled with Dapagliflozin and Metformin: Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Backgruound: This study assessed the efficacy and safety of triple therapy with pioglitazone 15 mg add-on versus placebo in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) inadequately controlled with metformin and dapagliflozin.

Methods: In this multicenter, double-blind, randomized, phase 3 study, patients with T2DM with an inadequate response to treatment with metformin (≥1,000 mg/day) plus dapagliflozin (10 mg/day) were randomized to receive additional pioglitazone 15 mg/day (n=125) or placebo (n=125) for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was the change in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels from baseline to week 24 (ClinicalTrials.

Association between the Diabetes Drug Cost and Cardiovascular Events and Death in Korea: A National Health Insurance Service Database Analysis.

Backgruound: This study aimed to investigate the long-term effects of diabetes drug costs on cardiovascular (CV) events and death.

Methods: This retrospective observational study used data from 2009 to 2018 from the National Health Insurance in Korea. Among the patients with type 2 diabetes, those taking antidiabetic drugs and who did not have CV events until 2009 were included.

Patient Understanding of Hypoglycemia in Tertiary Referral Centers.

Background: Hypoglycemia is an important complication in the treatment of patients with diabetes. We surveyed the insight by patients with diabetes into hypoglycemia, their hypoglycemia avoidance behavior, and their level of worry regarding hypoglycemia.

Methods: A survey of patients with diabetes, who had visited seven tertiary referral centers in Daegu or Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea, between June 2014 and June 2015, was conducted.

A First Case of Osteomesopyknosis in Korea.

Osteomesopyknosis is a rare sclerosing bone disorder of autosomal dominant inheritance. We report a first case of osteomesopyknosis in Korea. A 16-year old girl complained of diffuse back pain for 1 year.

Association between the Growth Hormone Receptor Exon 3 Polymorphism and Metabolic Factors in Korean Patients with Acromegaly.

Background: This study investigated the association between the frequency of growth hormone receptor (GHR) exon 3 polymorphism (exon 3 deletion; d3-GHR) and metabolic factors in patients with acromegaly in Korea.

Methods: DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of 30 unrelated patients with acromegaly. GHR genotypes were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction and correlated with demographic data and laboratory parameters.

The role of Nrf2: adipocyte differentiation, obesity, and insulin resistance.

Metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity, are increasing globally, and much work has been performed to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of these diseases. Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a basic leucine zipper transcription factor that serves as a primary cellular defense against the cytotoxic effects of oxidative stress. Recent studies have proposed a close relationship between oxidative stress and energy metabolism-associated disease.

Dimethylfumarate suppresses adipogenic differentiation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes through inhibition of STAT3 activity.

The excessive accumulation of adipocytes contributes to the development of obesity and obesity-related diseases. The interactions of several transcription factors, such as C/EBPβ, PPARγ, C/EBPα, Nrf2, and STAT3, are required for adipogenic differentiation. Dimethylfumarate (DMF), an immune modulator and antioxidant, may function as an inhibitor of STAT3 and an activator of Nrf2.

Serum irisin levels in new-onset type 2 diabetes.

Aims: Irisin has been identified as a novel myokine that drives brown-fat-like conversion of white adipose tissue. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated whether serum irisin levels are decreased in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared with control subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), and assessed the association between serum irisin levels and various metabolic parameters.

Methods: The study population was selected from a population-based study and included 104 subjects with NGT and 104 subjects with new-onset T2D.

Association of the DDAH2 gene polymorphism with type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the polymorphism of DDAH2 is associated with type 2 diabetes and hypertension in Korean population.

Methods: Total 605 subjects were included in this study: 403 patients with type 2 diabetes and 202 non-diabetic control subjects. The SNP rs805304 and rs2272592 in DDAH2 were analyzed.

Mediation of glucolipotoxicity in INS-1 rat insulinoma cells by small heterodimer partner interacting leucine zipper protein (SMILE).

Sustained elevations of glucose and free fatty acid concentration have deleterious effects on pancreatic beta cell function. One of the hallmarks of such glucolipotoxicity is a reduction in insulin gene expression, resulting from decreased insulin promoter activity. Sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), a lipogenic transcription factor, is related to the development of beta cell dysfunction caused by elevated concentrations of glucose and free fatty acid.

Relationship of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 and hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase gene polymorphisms with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (HSD11B1), which converts inactive glucocorticoid to active glucocorticoid, plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of visceral obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. Hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (H6PD) supplies a crucial cofactor, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), which allows HSD11B1 to maintain reductase activity. The association of common SNPs in HSD11B1 [IVS3-29G/T (rs12086634), IVS4-11120A/G (rs1000283)] and H6PD [R453Q (rs6688832), P554L (rs17368528)], either separately or combined, with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome was examined in 427 Korean subjects with type 2 diabetes and in 358 nondiabetic Korean subjects.

Relationship between cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy and coronary artery calcification in patients with type 2 diabetes.

To test the hypothesis that cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) in Type 2 diabetes is a risk factor of coronary artery calcification (CAC), in this cross-sectional study, 118 patients (60 males, 58 females) with type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomly selected from the diabetes clinic of Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Korea, between January, 2008 and September, 2008. The subjects, whose mean age was 56.9+/-1.

Impact of ENPP1 and MMP3 gene polymorphisms on aortic calcification in patients with type 2 diabetes in a Korean population.

Aims: We investigated whether gene polymorphisms of Ecto-nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (ENPP1) and matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3) are associated with increased vascular calcification in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and evaluated whether serum MMP3 and osteoprotegerin (OPG) levels are related to calcification.

Methods: This study included 464 subjects: 269 patients with T2D and 195 healthy controls in South Korea. We genotyped subjects for four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): ENPP1 K121Q, ENPP1 A/G+1044TGA, MMP3 -709A>G and MMP3 -1475G>A.

Novel mutation of aquaporin-2 gene in a patient with congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.

Congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (CNDI) is a rare inherited disease, characterized by an inability of the kidney to concentrate urine in response to vasopressin. Three different inheritance patterns have been described, i.e.