The effect of proton pump inhibitors on glycated hemoglobin levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE: Gastrin increases the growth and neogenesis of the islets of Langerhans. Oral proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) increase the circulating gastrin level in animals and humans, but the therapeutic benefit of PPIs for diabetes mellitus has not been resolved. We examined whether treatment with a PPI for ≥2 months affected the glycated hemoglobin (A1C) level in patients with type 2 diabetes.

METHODS: The electronic medical records of patients treated at the Busan Paik Hospital in South Korea were examined. The primary outcome measure was the change in A1C before and after PPI treatment for ≥2 months. We also tested if the primary outcome measure was affected by sex, age, duration of diabetes, body mass index, PPI molecule, duration of treatment with PPI or concurrent therapy with other antidiabetes agents.

RESULTS: In total, 43 patients (17 men and 26 women) were studied (mean age 63.8 years). Patients were treated with a PPI for a mean of 180 days. The A1C levels before and after treatment were not significantly different (6.86%±1.10% and 6.77%±1.07%, respectively; p=0.406). Metformin monotherapy did not lower A1C levels as compared with a combination therapy including metformin and antidiabetes medication not including metformin.

CONCLUSIONS: Proton pump inhibitor treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes did not reduce A1C levels. The data of this study were obtained from a retrospective chart review and included a small number of subjects. Furthermore, large randomized controlled studies are needed to define the effect of PPIs for type 2 patients with diabetes.