Reanalysis of study of pancreatic effects of incretin therapy: methodological deficiencies.
A recently published study by Butler et al. concluded that incretin treatment had adverse effects on the human type 2 diabetic pancreas including 'a marked expansion of the exocrine and endocrine pancreatic compartments, the former being accompanied by increased proliferation and dysplasia and the latter by α-cell hyperplasia with the potential for evolution into neuroendocrine tumours'. Incretin therapy has become widely used for type 2 diabetes, so these conclusions have instigated major concerns with regard to patient safety. We reassessed both the clinical case information and virtual microscopy images of the same 34 cases that were used in the Butler study as well as Network for Pancreatic Organ Donation (nPOD) cases that were not included. Whereas we would like to stress that it is important to investigate in depth any indication that incretin treatment may lead to inflammation or dysplasia in the pancreas, we find that the data presented in the Butler paper have serious methodological deficiencies that preclude any meaningful conclusions.
['Bonner-Weir|S|S|', "In't Veld|P A|PA|", 'Weir|G C|GC|']
D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 D005260:Female D006801:Humans D054795:Incretins D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells D008297:Male D010179:Pancreas
incretin therapy type 2 diabetes islets