A new treatment for Type-2 diabetes in children has shown promise in a clinical trial, according to a study.

The drug, liraglutide, in combination with an existing medication, metformin, showed a robust effect in treating children with Type-2 diabetes, the results showed. "This adult diabetes medication was very effective in our trial of youth with Type-2 diabetes and was well tolerated," said study co-author Jane Lynch, Professor at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in the US.

Currently only two drugs, metformin and insulin, are approved for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes in children in the US. "We urgently need other options for medical treatment of Type-2 diabetes in our youth under age 18. If approved, this drug would be a fantastic new option to complement oral metformin therapy as an alternative to insulin for our youth and adolescents with Type 2 diabetes," said Lynch.

The study compared outcomes of 66 children who received liraglutide shots plus metformin pills for 26 weeks with the outcomes of 68 other children who received metformin and a placebo. Children between ages 10 and 17 were eligible for the study. The research, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, was a randomised, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial. The average age of the participant children was 14.6 years, and more than 60 per cent were female.