Published online Nov 15, 2020. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v11.i11.514
Peer-review started: June 28, 2020
First decision: July 30, 2020
Revised: August 13, 2020
Accepted: September 14, 2020
Article in press: September 14, 2020
Published online: November 15, 2020
Processing time: 135 Days and 13.1 Hours
Many type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients are characterized by abdominal obesity, which is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality. The waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) reflects abdominal obesity and is a promising measure for the evaluation of cardiovascular risk. The metformin and acarbose in Chinese as the initial Hypoglycaemic treatment trial demonstrated that acarbose and metformin reduced the WHtR after 24 wk of treatment. The factors associated with the reduction in the WHtR after monotherapy of acarbose or metformin are unclear.
We attempted to investigate whether the factors associated with the WHtR reduction after the acarbose or metformin treatment differ in newly diagnosed T2DM. We also attempted to clarify the role of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) in reducing the WHtR under treatment with two classical oral antidiabetic drugs.
We aimed to identify the factors associated with WHtR reduction after 24 wk within the acarbose and metformin groups.
Logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS statistical software (version 25.0). Further stratified analysis was performed to investigate the associations between GLP-1 and WHtR reduction under acarbose or metformin treatment.
In this study, we found a sex difference in WHtR reduction in both the acarbose and metformin treatments. An increase in the area under the curve of GLP-1was associated with a high ΔWHtR in the acarbose group. We also identified that a higher reduction in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol/non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was associated with a high ΔWHtR in the acarbose arm, while a higher reduction in fasting plasma glucose and total cholesterol was associated with a high ΔWHtR in the metformin group.
Our study showed that the baseline GLP-1 level and increase in GLP-1 level are associated with WHtR reduction under acarbose treatment in newly diagnosed T2DM. Additionally, in the low baseline area under the curve of GLP-1 group, the acarbose treatment could lead to a greater decrease in the WHtR than metformin.
This study could provide new evidence for oral antidiabetic drug selection in newly diagnosed Chinese T2DM.