Comparison of the pulmonary function of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with insulin injections versus that of patients treated with oral hypoglucemic agents

Abstract

Introduction: the potential association between the type of treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus(DM2) and impaired lung function is something rarely studied so far.Objectives: to compare the lung function of patients with DM2 who are treated with injectable insulin versus HO. To determine whether levels of inflammatory markers in patients with insulin-based treatment are different from those treated with Ho. Methods: an observational, analytical, cross-sectional study from a convenience sample of 369patients diagnosed with DM2 and treated with insulin or Ho. spirometry was performed, and residual values were averaged for FeV1, FVC and FeV1/FVC ratios. Multiple linear regression results were adjusted by differences in known determinants of lung function, as well as control of diabetes and time since diagnosis. Additionally, we measured blood levels of inflammatory markers for each treatment group Results: 63 patients (17%) were treated with insulin and 306 (83%) with oH. The difference in residual favored those treated with Ho. For FeV1, FVC and FeV1/FVC the difference was 57.6 ml(95% Ci 32.45 to 82.74, P 0.0047), 45.6 ml (95% Ci 20.84 to 70.39, P 0.0231) and 0.017 (95% Ci 0.01 to 0.02, P <0.0001), respectively. There were no statistically significant changes in inflammation markers. Conclusions: patients treated with Ho showed better lung function than those treated with insulin.This finding of differences in lung function may have clinical implications in the management of diabetic patients, but needs to be confirmed in prospective studies