Efficacy and Safety of Vildagliptin for Type 2 Diabetes in Patients With Diabetic Kidney Disease

Background/Aim: Vildagliptin is one of the dipeptidyl peptidase -4 (DPP -4) inhibitors that have been shown to improve hyperglycemia in clinical trials among patients with type 2 diabetes. However, few studies have examined the efficacy of vildagliptin in patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Patients and Methods: Eight patients with DKD received oral vildagliptin 50-100 mg/day. The duration of diabetes was 6.7 +/- 5.9 years and observation period was 23.6 +/- 9.8 months. Changes in fasting blood glucose, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (UPCR) were studied before and after the administration of vildagliptin. Results: Vildagliptin treatment significantly decreased fasting blood glucose and HbA1c, compared to baseline (132 +/- 56 mg/dl, p=0.036, 6.0 +/- 0.3, p=0.041, respectively). UPCR tended to be decreased, albeit without statistical significance. However, eGFR was decreased after the administration of vildagliptin. No significant adverse effects were observed in all patients during the study. Conclusion: Although the sample size was limited and the observation period was brief, vildagliptin was found to be an effective and reasonably well -tolerated treatment for patients with DKD.