Exenatide and Impaired Hypoglycaemic Awareness in Type 1 Diabetes

Approximately 25% of patients with type 1 diabetes have lost the capacity to timely detect hypoglycaemia, a condition referred to as impaired hypoglycaemic awareness (IHA) that causes a six-fold higher risk of severe, potentially hazardous, hypoglycaemia. IHA is usually the end-result of a process of habituation to recurrent hypoglycemia that is potentially reversible. Treatment with glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 Receptor Agonists (1RAs) in addition to insulin therapy may decrease the incidence of hypoglycaemia in patients with type 1 diabetes. This study will test the hypothesis that treatment with the GLP-1RA, exenatide, added to basal-bolus insulin therapy will improve awareness of hypoglycaemia in patients with type 1 diabetes and IHA. In a randomized doubleblind placebo-controlled cross-over trial, patients will be treated for 6 weeks with exenatide (or placebo), after which hypoglycemic symptoms and counterregulatory hormone responses will be examined during a hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic glucose clamp study.