Numerous drugs with different mechanisms of action are currently in use with the aim of improving glycemic control, and drugs with different pharmacologic profiles are employed in the management of type 2 diabetes. Therapeutic options for patients with type 2 diabetes and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are, however, limited because the reduced glomerular filtration rate results in the accumulation of certain drugs and/ or their metabolites [1]. Conventional oral hypoglyce- Abstract. The potent and selective dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor vildagliptin improves glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes through incretin hormone-mediated increases in both α-and β-cell responsiveness to glucose. We conducted a prospective, open-label, parallel group, controlled study of 51 patients with type 2 diabetic patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) during the 24-week study period. Patients were assigned to two groups: the vildagliptin group (n = 30) and the control group (n = 21). Vildagliptin was administered at 50 mg/day for the first 8 weeks. Then doses were titrated by dose-doubling to a maximum of 100 mg/day if hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) or glycated albumin (GA) target levels had not been reached. No vildagliptin was administered to the controls. The average final dose of vildagliptin was 80 ± 5 mg daily. After 24 weeks, vildagliptin had decreased average HbA1c levels from 6.7 % baseline to 6.1 %, average GA levels from 24.5 % baseline to 20.5 % and average postprandial plasma glucose levels from 186 mg/dL baseline to 140 mg/dL (all p < 0.0001). In the control group, we observed no such changes. Vildagliptin efficacy did not differ according to age or body mass index, but the GA reduction was significantly greater in the anti-diabetic agents-naïve group. Furthermore, in patients with higher baseline GA levels, a higher vildagliptin dosage was required to produce a noticeable effect. No serious adverse effects such as hypoglycemia or liver impairment were observed in any patient. Vildagliptin was effective as a treatment for diabetic patients undergoing HD.

Alogliptin as monotherapy or in combination with other oral antidiabetic agents improved glycemic control and was generally well tolerated in patients with HD over a 48-week period.

In Japan, publicly subsidized Haemophilus influenzae serotype b vaccines became available in 2011; consequently, the incidence of invasive H. influenzae infection in paediatric patients of less than 5 years of age decreased dramatically. In 2013, the first case of H. influenzae serotype f (Hif) meningitis in a Japanese infant was reported, and another case of Hif meningitis in a Japanese infant was observed in 2013. We experienced a fatal paediatric case of Hif bacteraemia in 2004; therefore, we conducted an analysis of the three Hif strains isolated from these three Japanese children with invasive Hif infections. All three strains were b-lactamase-non-producing, ampicillinsensitive strains, with MICs of 1 mg ml "1 or less. However, one of the three strains showed slightly elevated MICs for ampicillin (1 mg ml "1 ), cefotaxime (0.25 mg ml "1) and meropenem (0.13 mg ml "1 ). A molecular analysis by multilocus sequence typing identified all three strains as sequence type (ST) 124, which is a predominant invasive Hif strain in many countries. SmaI-digested PFGE showed variable DNA fragmentation patterns among the strains, suggesting that some highly virulent strains have originated from a single ST124 clone and caused invasive Hif infections in Japan. Additional studies are needed to determine the factors that have led to the clonal expansion of virulent ST124 strains.

This open-label, randomized, parallel-controlled study investigated the effects of the direct renin inhibitor aliskiren on 64 hypertensive type 2 diabetic patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and stable glycemic control who were already being treated with fixed doses of antihypertensive agents over a 24-week period. These agents were 80 mg of the angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) telmisartan and 5 mg of the calcium channel blocker (CCB) amlodipine. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: the aliskiren group, receiving 150 mg per day aliskiren, which was increased to 300 mg per day (n ¼ 32), and the CCB group, which received an increased dose (7.5 mg per day) of amlodipine that was increased to 10 mg per day (n ¼ 32). Urinary albumin excretion and urinary levels of 8-hydroxy-2 0 -deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and liver-type fatty acidbinding protein (L-FABP) were investigated in each group. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly in both groups, but there was no significant difference between the two groups at the end of the study. Serum creatinine levels and estimated glomerular filtration rate did not differ significantly between the two groups, but percent changes of urinary albumin/creatinine ratios, 8-OHdG and L-FABP levels decreased significantly in the aliskiren group compared with the CCB group. Plasma aldosterone levels were significantly decreased in the aliskiren group, which correlated significantly with those of urinary 8-OHdG and L-FABP. Our results suggest that the addition of aliskiren to the maximal recommended dose of ARB and usual dose of amlodipine is more effective in reducing albuminuria and oxidant stress in hypertensive diabetic patients with CKD than increasing the dose of amlodipine.

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