The following combination medications are indicated as adjuncts to diet and exercise in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Can you identify their components? To find out, match each brand name in Section I with its generic name in Section II.

Section I

_____ 1. Qtern (AstraZeneca)

_____ 2. Soliqua (Sanofi-Aventis)

_____ 3. Xultophy (Novo Nordisk)

Section II

a. insulin glargine and lixisenatide. This product combines insulin glargine, a long-acting human insulin analogue, and lixisenatide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist. Teach patients to administer it once daily as a subcutaneous injection in the thigh, upper arm, or abdomen within an hour before the first meal of the day. Don't administer I.V. or I.M.

b. insulin degludec and liraglutide. A combination of a long-acting human insulin analogue and a GLP-1 receptor agonist, this drug is injected subcutaneously once daily at same time each day with or without food in the thigh, upper arm, or abdomen. It has a boxed warning for thyroid C-cell tumors. Teach patients signs and symptoms of thyroid tumors, including a neck mass and dysphagia.

c. dapagliflozin and saxagliptin. Taken orally, this drug combines dapagliflozin, a SGLT-2 inhibitor, with saxagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of acute pancreatitis, including acute onset of severe upper abdominal pain.

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ANSWERS: 1c, 2a, 3b