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Objective: Therapies that lower blood glucose and provide weight loss may provide meaningful benefits for obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study assessed the efficacy of taspoglutide compared with placebo on glycemic control and weight in obese patients with T2DM inadequately controlled with metformin monotherapy., Design and Methods: In a 24-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial, obese adults with T2DM were randomized (1:1) to weekly subcutaneous taspoglutide 20 mg (10 mg for first 4 weeks) (n = 154) or placebo (n = 151) for 24 weeks. Efficacy measures included hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels, body weight, percentage of patients achieving HbA1c ≤6.5 and ≤7.0%, and fasting plasma glucose (FPG). Adverse events (AEs) were assessed., Results: Mean baseline HbA1c was 7.55% and mean baseline BMI was 36.7 kg/m(2) . HbA1c reductions from baseline were significantly greater with taspoglutide than placebo (least square mean [LSMean], -0.81% vs. -0.09%; P < 0.0001). Weight loss at week 24 was significantly greater with taspoglutide than placebo (LSMean, -3.16 vs. -1.85 kg; P < 0.01). In the taspoglutide and placebo groups, target HbA1c levels (≤6.5%) were achieved by 49 and 16% of patients, respectively, while 72 and 36% achieved HbA1c levels ≤7%. Decreases in FPG were significantly greater with taspoglutide than placebo (-23.59 vs. 0.09 mg/dl; P < 0.0001). Nausea and vomiting were the most common AEs associated with taspoglutide, but tended to be transient and generally mild or moderate., Conclusions: In obese patients with T2DM, once-weekly taspoglutide provided the combined benefits of glycemic control and weight loss., (Copyright © 2012 The Obesity Society.)

Objective: Combinations of oral analgesics may offer several potential benefits compared with an individual agent. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of an extended-release, twice-daily fixed combination of 75 mg tramadol/650 mg paracetamol (DDS-06C) in the treatment of moderate-to-severe pain, using acute low back pain as a model., Research Design and Methods: In this phase III study, 277 patients with moderate-to-severe acute low back pain were randomized to 1-2 tablets of DDS-06C or placebo every 10-12 h for 2.5 days during the double-blind phase. Following the double-blind phase, patients had the option to continue for a 2.5-day open-label phase., Clinical Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT00643383), Main Outcome Measures: The primary end point was the sum of pain intensity differences (SPID) over the 50-h double-blind phase (SPID50). Secondary end points included total pain relief score over the 50-h double-blind phase (TOTPAR50), patient's global impression of medication, and SPID over the first 4 h., Results: A statistically significant (p = 0.038) greater decrease in pain intensity was observed in the DDS-06C group (median SPID50: -6.0) versus placebo (median SPID50: -4.0). Greater pain relief was also observed in patients randomized to DDS-06C: the median TOTPAR50 was 13.0 for the DDS-06C group and 11.0 for placebo (p = 0.026). DDS-06C demonstrated statistically significant superior efficacy compared with placebo for the majority of the other secondary end points. Overall, 38% of patients treated with DDS-06C experienced at least one adverse event; the intensity was mild-to-moderate in 81% of cases. The most commonly reported adverse events (>5% of patients receiving DDS-06C) were nausea, dizziness, vomiting, and somnolence., Conclusions: Using acute low back pain, a model with a high degree of heterogeneity and intrinsic variability, DDS-06C was superior to placebo on measures of pain intensity and relief, and was well-tolerated.

Unlabelled: Gastrointestinal (GI) side effects are common with opioid medication, and constipation affects ∼40% of patients. Such symptoms considerably impair patients' quality of life. Alvimopan is an orally administered, systemically available, peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor (PAM-OR) antagonist approved in the US for short-term, in-hospital management of postoperative ileus in patients undergoing bowel resection. This double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted as part of a recently discontinued clinical program, in which alvimopan was being developed for opioid-induced constipation (OIC). Patients (N = 518) receiving opioids for non-cancer pain were randomized to receive alvimopan .5 mg once daily, alvimopan .5 mg twice daily, or placebo for 12 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of patients experiencing ≥ 3 spontaneous bowel movements (SBMs; bowel movements with no laxative use in the previous 24 hours) per week over the treatment period and an average increase from baseline of ≥ 1 SBM per week. A significantly greater proportion of patients in the alvimopan .5 mg twice-daily group met the primary endpoint compared with placebo (72% versus 48%, P < .001). Treatment with alvimopan twice daily improved a number of other symptoms compared with placebo and reduced the requirement for rescue laxative use. The opioid-induced bowel dysfunction Symptoms Improvement Scale (SIS) responder rate was 40.4% in the alvimopan .5 mg twice daily group, versus 18.6% with placebo (P < .001). In general, alvimopan .5 mg once daily produced qualitatively similar but numerically smaller responses than twice-daily treatment. Active treatment did not increase the requirement for opioid medication or increase average pain intensity scores. Over the 12-week treatment period, alvimopan appeared to be well tolerated., Perspective: These results demonstrate the potential for a PAM-OR antagonist to improve the symptoms of OIC without antagonizing opioid analgesia., (Copyright © 2011 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Our objective was to investigate the efficacy and safety of alvimopan, a peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor (PAM-OR) antagonist, in subjects with non-cancer pain and opioid-induced bowel dysfunction (OBD), and to identify at least one treatment regimen that improves OBD. Following a 2-week baseline period, 522 subjects reporting <3 spontaneous bowel movements (SBMs)/week (with >or=25% accompanied by a sensation of incomplete evacuation, straining, or lumpy hard stools), requiring analgesia equivalent to >or=30 mg oral morphine/day were randomized to alvimopan 0.5mg twice daily (BID), 1mg once daily (QD), 1mg BID, or placebo for 6 weeks. Compared with placebo, there was a statistically and clinically significant increase in mean weekly SBM frequency over the initial 3 weeks of treatment (primary endpoint) with alvimopan 0.5mg BID (+1.71 mean SBMs/week), alvimopan 1mg QD (+1.64) and alvimopan 1mg BID (+2.52); P<0.001 for all comparisons. Increased SBM frequency and additional treatment effects, including improvements in symptoms such as straining, stool consistency, incomplete evacuation, abdominal bloating/discomfort, and decreased appetite, were sustained over 6 weeks. The most frequently reported adverse events were abdominal pain, nausea, and diarrhea, occurring more frequently in the higher dosage groups. The alvimopan 0.5mg BID regimen demonstrated the best benefit-to-risk profile for managing OBD with alvimopan in this study population, with a side effect profile similar to that of placebo. There was no evidence of opioid analgesia antagonism. Competitive peripheral antagonism of opioids with alvimopan can restore GI function and relieve OBD without compromising analgesia.