[Early intensification of treatment in diabetes using a combination of insulin and nicotinamide--effect on C-peptide levels and the course of the disease].

: Significantly higher C-peptide levels were found in a group of 49 juvenile diabetics treated with insulin in combination with nicotinamide compared to 33 diabetics treated with insulin only. There had been no significant differences in the initial values of C-peptide between the two groups. After six weeks the mean basal values of C-peptide in the blood of nicotinamide treated diabetics reached 1.21 +/- 0.79 ng/ml compared to 0.87 +/- 0.55 ng/ml determined in the group treated with insulin only (p less than 0.05). After one year of therapy the differences remained significant (p less than 0.01). The insulin requirement was significantly lower in the nicotinamide treated group after six weeks (p less than 0.001) and the difference remained significant also after two years of nicotinamide treatment (p less than 0.02). A longer period of partial remission was recorded in the group of diabetics who were administered nicotinamide. (Tab. 4, Fig. 2, Ref. 13.)