As diabetes prevalence is continuously increasing, better management is needed to achieve blood glucose control, in order to prevent complications and lessen the burden of this disease. Since the first measurement of glycosuria at the beginning of the 1900s', huge advances were made in monitoring glycemia. Continuous glucose monitoring systems revolutionized diabetes management, especially for patients with type 1 diabetes. Avoiding glycemic variability and maintaining optimal glycemic control is crucial for the evolution of patients with type 1 diabetes. The usefulness of glycemic monitoring devices can be extended to patients with type 2 diabetes. It is also important to note that in those patients at risk of developing high glycemic variability (e.g. patients with advanced chronic kidney disease), continuous glycemic monitoring may improve their prognosis. These monitoring systems can be classified according to the analytical method, the degree of invasiveness, the data availability and the mode of usage. The technology is constantly improving in bioanalytical performance, biocompatibility, length of wearing time, safety and clinical features. The aim of this review was to briefly present the main characteristics of glucose biosensors, glucose monitoring systems and their clinically utility.

Background: Basal insulin is the first choice for insulin initiation in type 2 diabetes (T2DM), with the second generation of basal insulin analogues having a lower risk of hypoglycemia compared to the first generation of basal insulins. The aim of our study was to assess on a large cohort of insulin-naïve T2DM subjects the effectiveness and safety of insulin glargine 300 U/mL (Gla-300) in a real-life setting.Methods: This was a multicenter, prospective, non-interventional, 24 weeks, 3 visits (baseline, 3 and 6 months) trial performed in adult T2DM subjects not achieving glycemic target (HbA1c >7%) with prior oral or GLP-1 RA therapy. The study included 1,095 subjects (55.2% M/44.8% F) in 124 study sites.Mean (±SD) age was 61.1±8.5 years while mean duration of diabetes was 8.8±5.2 years. Mean BMI was 31.7±5.4 kg/m 2 with 91.2% being overweight or obese. Baseline diabetes treatment included metformin (88.4% of subjects), sulphonylureas (75.4%), DPP-4i (16.7%) and GLP-1 RAs (8%). Comparison between quantitative variables was made with the paired sample t test.Results: Mean HbA1c at baseline was 9.8%±1.7% with a mean fasting plasma glucose (FBG) of 231.5±67.4 mg/dL. Mean HbA1c decreased to 7.7%±1.2% at 6 months with a mean change from baseline of −2.1% (P<0.001). Overall, 30.7% of subjects reached the HbA1c target of 7%. Final mean dose of Gla-300 was 0.4 IU/kg/day. Mean weight gain was 0.4 kg over 6 months. Adverse events (AEs) were reported by 11.1% of subjects with 2.3% reporting serious adverse events (SAEs). Overall, 4.4% of subjects reporting at least one event of symptomatic or confirmed hypoglycemia. Only 7 episodes of nocturnal and one of severe hypoglycemia were reported. Conclusions:In conclusion, a significant 2.1% decrease of HbA1c was recorded after 6 months of treatment with Gla-300 with no unexpected safety signals, low risk of hypoglycemia and modest weight gain.

Objectives. To assess the characteristics of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) as compared to patients with type 2 DM without DPN in an ambulatory setting, given the pandemic size of DM and its challenge for the healthcare systems worldwide in the 21st century. From the chronic complications of DM, DPN has a major impact on the patient’s life quality. DPN risk factors are both modifiable and unmodifiable and represent either other comorbidities per se, or predisposing factors for various comorbidities that alter the patient’s prognosis. Material and Methods. We conducted a retrospective observational study with 112 patients with type 2 DM treated in an out-patient department, in order to assess the characteristics and associated comorbidities of DPN. The group characteristics are a mean age of 60.28±9.76 years; 62.5% males; 77.67% from urban settlement; a prevalence of DPN of 52.67%. Outcomes. In the statistical analysis, DPN significantly associated with duration of DM, the need for insulin-therapy, risk factors such as smoking or obesity; with other complications of DM such as retinopathy, chronic kidney disease, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease or peripheral artery disease; with comorbidities such as heart failure; and with the level of HDL-cholesterol and eGFR. Conclusions. A patient with DPN is more prone to also present other microvascular complications of type 2 DM, such as chronic kidney disease, retinopathy and, respectively with macrovascular complications of type 2 DM, and with other comorbidities such as heart failure and obesity. Its easily available diagnosis in an ambulatory setting by quantitative sensory testing should offer to DPN the status of a good marker for the presence of other chronic complications or comorbidities in type 2 DM, prompting the patient’s screening and an adequate medical management.

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Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and subsequent antiretroviral therapy (ART) are known to be related to different metabolic disorders. Although ART decreased HIV-associated mortality and morbidity, mortality rates in patients with HIV and ART are 3 to 15 higher than those in the general population. More than 50% of the mortality is due to diseases like: diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), chronic renal disease and complications following bone fractures. In patients with HIV the metabolic disorders are mainly caused by mithocondrial toxicity, a side effect of ART, and they are represented by: dyslipidemia, lipoatrophy, insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus.