title: Deflazacort vs prednisone. Effect on blood glucose control in insulin-treated diabetics.
abstract: Glucocorticoid treatment produces a deterioration of blood glucose control in diabetics. Recent reports have indicated that deflazacort is less diabetogenic than prednisone in healthy subjects. Ten insulin-treated diabetics who required steroid drugs were treated with deflazacort (30 mg/d for four weeks) and prednisone (25 mg/d for four weeks) in randomized, double-blind design after a pretreatment period of four weeks. At the end of each treatment, plasma glucose profile (five determinations per day), hemoglobin A1 level, and insulin requirements were compared. Mean (+/- SEM) plasma glucose level (139 +/- 28 vs 169 +/- 32 mg/dL [7.7 +/- 1.5 vs 9.4 +/- 1.8 mmol/L]) and hemoglobin A1 values (8.81% +/- 1.19% vs 10.71% +/- 1.17% of total hemoglobin) were significantly lower after deflazacort than after prednisone. Also, insulin requirement was significantly lower after deflazacort than after prednisone (29.3 +/- 11.6 vs 47.3 +/- 2.0 U/d). These results indicate that deflazacort, when employed in an anti-inflammatory dose equivalent to prednisone, should prove advantageous in insulin-treated diabetics who require steroid treatment.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011241:Prednisone / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011282:Pregnenediones / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011897:Random Allocation
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D001786:Blood Glucose; D011282:Pregnenediones; C021988:deflazacort; D011241:Prednisone