Purpose: Impaired β-cell function remains unaddressed in PCOS. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor alogliptin (ALO) alone or in combination with pioglitazone (PIO) improves β-cell function along with insulin resistance (IR) in metformin (MET) treated obese women with PCOS with persistent IR.
Materials and methods: In 12-week randomized study, ALO 25 mg QD (n=15) or ALO 25 mg QD and PIO 30 mg QD (n=15) was added to MET 1000 mg BID in PCOS women (aged 34.4 ± 6.5 years, BMI 39.0 ± 4.9 kg/m2, HOMA-IR 4.82 ± 2.52, mean ± SD). Model derived parameters of glucose homeostasis from the meal tolerance test (MTT) were determined. The ability of the β-cell function was assessed by the adaptation index (AI).
Results: MET-ALO and MET-ALO-PIO resulted in a significant decrease of HOMA-IR (by 1.6±2.3 (p=0.039) and 2.9±3.3 (p=0.001), respectively) and an increase in insulin sensitivity (IS) after meal ingestion (oral glucose IS) by 31.4±97.5 ml·min-1·m-2 (p=0.007) vs 39.0±58.1 ml·min-1·m-2 (p=0.039), respectively. AI across the entire group was significantly improved from 329.6±200.6 to 442.5±303.9 (p=0.048).
Conclusions: ALO alone and in combination with PIO improved IR along with dynamic IS and meal related β-cell function when added to MET treated PCOS.
Keywords: Alogliptin; PCOS; insulin resistance; pioglitazone; β-cell function.