title: Effects of 6-month sitagliptin treatment on metabolic parameters in diabetic patients taking oral glucocorticoids: a retrospective cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are no guidelines for the treatment of diabetes in patients taking glucocorticoids. We studied to understand the effects of 6-month treatment with sitagliptin on metabolic parameters in diabetic patients taking glucocorticoids.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively picked up patients who had been prescribed sitagliptin for 6 months during the continuous prescription of oral glucocorticoids between October 2010 and October 2013 by a chart-based analysis, and compared the data before the sitagliptin treatment with the data at 6 months after the sitagliptin treatment started.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifteen patients were eligible for the analyses in our study. The plasma glucose and HbA1c levels were significantly reduced by the sitagliptin treatment. Furthermore, body weight significantly decreased. We found a significant and inverse correlation between the change in HbA1c levels and HbA1c levels at baseline. However, there was no significant correlation between the change in HbA1c levels and the daily glucocorticoid dose at baseline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study demonstrated that sitagliptin significantly reduced plasma glucose, HbA1c and body weight. Further, sitagliptin was more effective to improve glycemic control in patients taking glucocorticoids with higher HbA1c levels, independently of the daily glucocorticoid dose.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Kohnodai Hospital, Chiba 272-8516, Japan.
authors.forename: Hisayuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Katsuyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Kohnodai Hospital, Chiba 272-8516, Japan ; Clinical Research Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Kohnodai Hospital, Chiba 272-8516, Japan.
authors.forename: Akahito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sako
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Kohnodai Hospital, Chiba 272-8516, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Kohnodai Hospital, Chiba 272-8516, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hamasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Kohnodai Hospital, Chiba 272-8516, Japan ; Clinical Research Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Kohnodai Hospital, Chiba 272-8516, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidekatsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yanai
keywords: Body weight; Glucocorticoid; HbA1c; Sitagliptin