Diazoxide Treatment at Onset Preserves Residual Insulin Secretion in Adults with Autoimmune Diabetes

E Björk; C Berne; O Kämpe; L Wibell; P Oskarsson; F A Karlsson

doi:10.2337/diab.45.10.1427

Rapid Publications

Diazoxide Treatment at Onset Preserves Residual Insulin Secretion in Adults with Autoimmune Diabetes

E Björk,
C Berne,
O Kämpe,
L Wibell,
P Oskarsson and
F A Karlsson

Department of Medicine, University Hospital, Uppsala Danderyd, Sweden
Department of Medicine, Danderyd Hospital Danderyd, Sweden

Address correspondence and reprint requests to F. Anders Karlsson, PhD, MD, Section of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Department of Medicine, University Hospital, S-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden. E-mail: anderskarlsson{at}medicin.uu.se

Diabetes 1996 Oct; 45(10): 1427-1430. https://doi.org/10.2337/diab.45.10.1427

Abstract

Twenty islet cell antibody (ICA)-positive patients, aged 19–38 years, with IDDM were randomized at onset to treatment with either diazoxide, a K⁺ channel opener that inhibits the release of insulin, or placebo for 3 months, in addition to multiple insulin injection therapy. The patients who were given diazoxide displayed higher residual insulin secretion than the placebo group after 1 year (basal C-peptide level, 0.40 ± 0.04 vs. 0.25 ± 0.04 [mean ± SE] nmol/l; P < 0.021) and at an 18-month follow-up (0.37 ± 0.06 vs. 0.20 ± 0.01 nmol/l, P < 0.033). Metabolic control did not differ between the two groups. During the course of the study, no differences in islet cell or GAD autoantibodies were detected between the two groups. The results of this study warrant further trials to explore the potential of inducing target cell rest in order to halt the loss of insulin-producing cells during the early course of the disease.