Fig. 1
Patient flow diagram.*Patients could be excluded for more than one reason.†Serum creatinine > 177 μmol/l (2.0 mg/dl); serum alanine amino transferase or aspartate amino transferase > 3 times upper limit of normal for the patient’s age and gender; haemoglobin <10 g/dl (100 g/l) and/or neutrophils < 1500/mm3 (1.5 × 109/l) and/or platelets < 100,000/mm3 (100 × 109/l).cThreepatients had no post-baseline HbA1c assessment and were not included in the HbA1c analysis