3.1. Metabolic changes in newly diagnosed T2D patients on short-term insulin treatment or glimepiride, during the 12 months of follow-up
INS
Forty-two patients were randomly assigned to receive early short-term insulin treatment added on metformin (INS). They did not differ in age, sex, nor BMI from 38 patients assigned to treatment with glimepiride and metformin (OAD). The two groups did not differ in baseline FPG, HbA1c, or serum lipid levels (In both INS and OAD groups, initial HbA1c improved after 3 months, remaining so by 12 months. Early single-month insulin treatment resulted in better glycemic control at 3 months compared to OAD: HbA1c 6.26 ± 0.18% vs. 6.78 ± 0.10% (p = 0.016). The difference in HbA1c was maintained in favor of the INS group during the 12-month follow-up (There was no difference in average BMI between the two groups (28.36 ± 0.69 vs. 32.23 ± 2.07 kg/mAll investigated lipid markers, except HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), improved after 3 months in both treatment groups, remaining so after 12 months in the INS group (