Adjunct therapies in treatment of type 1 diabetes

In spite of developments with novel insulin preparations, novel modes of insulin delivery with insulin infusion pumps, and the facility of continuous glucose monitoring, only 20% of patients with type 1 diabetes are under adequate control. The need for innovation is clear, and, therefore, the use of adjunct therapies with other pharmacological agents currently in use for type 2 diabetes, has been tried. Currently, pramlintide is the only agent licensed for use in this condition in addition to insulin. Global trials have been conducted with liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA), dapagliflozin, a sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, and sotagliflozin, an inhibitor of both SGLT1 and SGLT2 transporters. While dapagliflozin and sotagliflozin have now been licensed for clinical use in this condition in Europe and Japan, they have hitherto not been licensed in the United States due to a small increase in the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis. However, these agents reduce glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) by 0.4%, reduce glycemic oscillations, and do not increase the risk of hypoglycemia. Liraglutide, on the other hand, induced a smaller reduction in HbA1c and thus was not considered for a license. However, further trials are currently being conducted with a combination of semaglutide, the most potent GLP-1RA, and dapagliflozin to determine whether this approach would yield better outcomes.