PMID- 25370323
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20210205
IS  - 1530-891X (Print)
IS  - 1530-891X (Linking)
VI  - 20
IP  - 12
DP  - 2014 Dec
TI  - Fixed-dose combination therapy in type 2 diabetes mellitus.
PG  - 1322-32
LID - 10.4158/EP14259.RA [doi]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) often requires 
      combinations of antihyperglycemic medications with complementary mechanisms of 
      action. Inadequate adherence to combination therapy, possibly related to pill 
      burden (greater number of pills and higher administration frequency) and poor 
      tolerability, may lead to suboptimal clinical outcomes. One potential means of 
      addressing these problems is the use of fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) that 
      simplify the treatment regimen by reducing pill burden compared with the same 
      combination delivered as separate pills. The present study evaluates the efficacy 
      and tolerability of FDCs in the treatment of T2DM patients and provides an 
      overview of dosing, costs, and adherence. METHODS: A review of FDCs, with 
      particular attention to those that contain metformin extended-release (XR) and 
      allow once-daily dosing. RESULTS: Many FDCs contain metformin as one of the 
      component drugs. However, the standard immediate-release (IR) formulation of 
      metformin requires twice-daily dosing and may have tolerability problems related 
      to adverse gastrointestinal (GI) effects. The XR formulations of metformin can be 
      administered once daily and have been shown to reduce the occurrence of GI 
      effects frequently observed with metformin IR; consequently, they may have 
      significant advantages for inclusion in FDCs. The long-term cost-effectiveness of 
      FDCs remains to be fully determined. CONCLUSION: For patients taking metformin, 
      FDCs containing metformin XR offer equivalent efficacy with reduced dose 
      frequency and, potentially, fewer GI events compared with standard IR 
      formulation, as well as a reduced number of pills compared with separate-pill 
      regimens. By reducing pill burden and improving tolerability, FDCs may improve 
      adherence.
FAU - Blonde, Lawrence
AU  - Blonde L
AD  - Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Ochsner Medical 
      Center, New Orleans, Louisiana.
FAU - San Juan, Zinnia T
AU  - San Juan ZT
AD  - Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Texas Tech University 
      Health Sciences Center, El Paso, Texas.
FAU - Bolton, Peggy
AU  - Bolton P
AD  - Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Ochsner Medical 
      Center, New Orleans, Louisiana.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - United States
TA  - Endocr Pract
JT  - Endocrine practice : official journal of the American College of Endocrinology 
      and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
JID - 9607439
SB  - IM
EDAT- 2014/11/06 06:00
MHDA- 2014/11/06 06:01
CRDT- 2014/11/06 06:00
PHST- 2014/11/06 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2014/11/06 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2014/11/06 06:01 [medline]
AID - S1530-891X(20)43487-1 [pii]
AID - 10.4158/EP14259.RA [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Endocr Pract. 2014 Dec;20(12):1322-32. doi: 10.4158/EP14259.RA.