Liraglutide in Type 1 Diabetes

• Change in HbA1c [ Time Frame: 24 week ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  To investigate the effect of liraglutide 1.8 mg once daily compared to placebo for 24 weeks on change in HbA1c in patients with type 1 diabetes as an adjunctive therapy to insulin treatment.
  
  

• Body weight [ Time Frame: 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  To investigate the effect of liraglutide 1.8 mg once daily compared to placebo for 24 weeks on change in weight, BMI and body composition
  
  
• Cardiovascular [ Time Frame: 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  To investigate the effect of liraglutide 1.8 mg once daily compared to placebo for 24 weeks on change in carotis intima media thickness, pulse wave velocity, 24 hour blood pressure
  
  
• Standardised liquid meal test [ Time Frame: 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  To investigate the effect of liraglutide 1.8 mg once daily compared to placebo for 24 weeks on change in postprandial glucagon levels, glycaemic excursion, gastric emptying, VAS score for appetite and food preference
  
  
• Glycaemic excursions [ Time Frame: 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  To investigate the effect of liraglutide 1.8 mg once daily compared to placebo for 24 weeks on change in insulin dose, hypoglycaemic events and glycaemic excursions (time spent in hypo- and hyperglycaemia as measured by CGM)
  
  
• Quality of life [ Time Frame: 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  To investigate the effect of liraglutide 1.8 mg once daily compared to placebo for 24 weeks on change in quality of life and treatment satisfaction
  
  

A randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled study of the effect of liraglutide as an additional treatment to insulin on HbA1c, body weight and hypoglycaemia in poorly regulated type 1 diabetes patients.

Background Treatment with glucagon-like peptid 1 (GLP-1) agonists liraglutide and exenatide leads to weight loss and decrease in haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in oral anti diabetic treated type 2 diabetes patients. Smaller studies have shown similar effects in insulin treated type 2 diabetes patients, with no increased risk of hypoglycaemia.

It is estimated that 40-50 % of type 1 diabetes patients in the US suffers from overweight or poor glycaemic control (HbA1c > 8 %). At present treatment of type 1 diabetes solely consists of insulin injections.

A recent study reports effects of adding liraglutide to a group of well regulated (HbA1c < 7.5 %) normal to overweight insulin treated type 1 diabetes patients for 24 weeks. A decrease in HbA1c, weight, insulin doses and glycaemic excursions measured by continuous glucose monitoring was seen. The study was not placebo controlled.

The available literature suggests that GLP-1 agonists reduce insulin dose and weight in well regulated type 1 diabetes patients, who are normal- to overweight. To our knowledge, no study has addressed whether liraglutide will improve HbA1c and reduce bodyweight in overweight and poorly regulated type 1 diabetes patients.

At present the most efficient way to reduce HbA1c is to use insulin pump therapy, and most studies suggest that this will decreased HbA1c by approximately 0.5 %. Insulin pump therapy is however only an option in very compliant patients. In most clinics treating type 1 diabetes 40-50 % of patients will have HbA1c > 8 % and many of these patients will, due to insufficient compliance, not be candidates for an insulin pump.

At Steno Diabetes Center approximately 3000 well characterized type 1 diabetes patients is followed in the outpatient clinic, and 40-50 % of these have HbA1c > 8.0 %. If liraglutide given once daily results in a reduction of HbA1c of 0.5 % it will probably be a very cost-effective additional therapy for type 1 diabetes patients in insufficient metabolic control.

Several studies have shown that liraglutide lowers systolic blood pressure. Dysregulation increases the risk of microvascular complications in type 1 diabetes of which microalbuminuria results in a need for treatment with antihypertensive medication. Overweight increases the risk of hypertension and arteriosclerosis and thereby cardiovascular diseases. Carotis intima media thickness is a validated estimate for future cardiovascular disease and pulse wave velocity is a measure of arterial stiffness. We perform 24 hour blood pressure measurements to document possible effects of liraglutide on blood pressure and CIMT and PWV to investigate the effect of liraglutide on cardiovascular disease and arteriosclerosis.