Dulaglutide as an Effective Replacement for Prandial Insulin in Kidney Transplant Recipients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Retrospective Review

Dulaglutide, a weekly injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, has demonstrated effectiveness when combined with basal insulin. We examined whether the efficacy of dulaglutide is comparable to that of prandial insulin in kidney transplant (KT) recipients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) undergoing multiple daily insulin injection (MDI) therapy. Thirty-seven patients, who switched from MDI therapy to basal insulin and dulaglutide, were retrospectively analyzed. Changes in glycosylated hemo-globin (HbA1c) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels, body weight, and basal insulin dose were evaluated over 6 months. Du-laglutide was comparable to three injections of prandial insulin in terms of glycemic control (HbA1c 7.1% vs. 7.0%; 95% confi-dence interval [CI], -0.53 to 0.28; P= 0.53). The basal insulin and dulaglutide combination resulted in a reduction in FPG levels by 9.7 mg/dL (95% CI, 2.09 to 41.54; P= 0.03), in body weight by 4.9 kg (95% CI, 2.87 to 6.98; P< 0.001), and in basal insulin dose by 9.52 IU (95% CI, 5.80 to 3.23; P< 0.001). Once-weekly dulaglutide may be an effective alternative for thrice-daily prandial insu-lin in KT recipients with T2DM currently receiving MDI therapy.

Automated summary

Dulaglutide showed comparable efficacy to prandial insulin in kidney transplant recipients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, resulting in reduced fasting plasma glucose levels, body weight, and basal insulin doses. It may be an effective alternative for those on multiple daily insulin injections.