Comparison of lipid profiles and lipoprotein (a) levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus during oral hypoglycemic or insulin therapy

The aim of this study is to compare lipid and lipoprotein (a) profiles in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) on insulin and oral hypoglycemic therapy. The study took place in the Department of Physiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, during 2002. Ninety-seven type 2 DM patients participated in the study. We divided the patients according to the type of treatment into sulphonylurea (n=40), sulphonylurea plus metformin (n=33) and insulin (n=24) therapy groups as well as 40 healthy subjects served as controls. Fasting blood samples were analyzed for lipoprotein (a) [Lp (a)], total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and insulin. Different groups of diabetic patients showed elevated fasting blood glucose (FPG) levels (p