Abstract

Murasaki S.O*, Shikibu W.A and Nobunaga K.K

This study aims is to investigate the effect of medium-term insulin therapy (3 months) and plasma glucose levels on corrected QT intervals (QTc) in patients with type 2 diabetes. The subjects were 17 patients with type 2 diabetes who had poor glycemic control and were changed to insulin therapy from sulfonylurea or diet therapy alone. QTc, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), serum potassium and body weight were measured at baseline and after 3 months of insulin therapy. A significant increase of QTc (0.406 ï?± 0.027 to 0.421 ï?± 0.025 s, P =0.0025) and a significant decrease in HbA1c (10.9 ï?± 1.9 to 7.9 ï?± 1.7%, P =0.0002) were found after 3 months of insulin therapy. QTc showed no correlation with FPG, HbA1c or body weight before insulin therapy and the change in QTc was not correlated with the change in FPG, HbA1c or body weight from before to after insulin therapy. In this study, insulin therapy for 3 months caused a significant increase of QTc in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, given the small size of the trial, further studies with larger number of patients are needed.