Table 3.

List of drugs recommended by the consensus for telemedicine management of diabetes.

Drug classification	Type of action	Drug varieties	Reason for recommendation
Injections	Short-acting insulin	Recombinant human insulin, biosynthetic human insulin	Cheap price
		Insulin aspart, insulin lispro	Low risk of hypoglycemia
	Intermediate-acting insulin	Protamine zinc recombinant human insulin, protamine biosynthetic human insulin	Cheap price
	Premixed insulin	Protamine recombinant human insulin (30/70), protamine biosynthetic human insulin (premixed 30R)	Cheap price
		Insulin aspart 30, protamine zinc recombinant insulin lispro (50R)	Low risk of hypoglycemia
	Long-acting insulin analogue	Insulin glargine	Included in the National Essential Medicines List of China
		Insulin degludec	A novel ultra-long-acting insulin with low risk of hypoglycemia [37].
	GLP-1RA	Liraglutide	It is included in the National Essential Medicines List of China and is the GLP-1RA with the strongest evidence of cardiovascular benefit.
		Dulaglutide	A weekly preparation, with evidence of cardiovascular and renal benefits [24, 32].
Oral antihyperglycemic agents	Biguanides	Metformin
	Sulfonylureas	Glimepiride	A new generation of sulfonylureas with low risk of hypoglycemia; research has shown its cardiovascular safety similar to that of DPP-4i [38].
		Gliclazide sustained-release tablets	ADVANCE research suggests that gliclazide sustained-release tablets may have a renal protection; there is a low risk of hypoglycemia.
	Glinides	Repaglinide	It can be used throughout the course of CKD, with no need to adjust the dose.
	α-Glucosidase inhibitors	Acarbose	Widely used in the Chinese population [36], with cheap price.
	DPP-4i	Linagliptin	It can be used throughout the course of impaired hepatic and renal function, with no need to adjust the dose.
		Alogliptin	Meta-analysis reveals its good effect in Asian populations [39]; it has high affinity for DPP-4 and high bioavailability.
	SGLT-2i	Empagliflozin	It has definite benefits for ASCVD, HF, and CKD [22], and nowadays, it is the only marketed drug to reduce the risk of death from CVD.
		Dapagliflozin	It is included in the National Essential Medicines List of China. This drug has definite benefits for both HF and CKD [21], but there is insufficient evidence to determine whether it has benefit for ASCVD.
	Thiazolidinediones	Pioglitazone	PROACTIVE has found that it can reduce the risk of stroke recurrence [29].

GLP-1RA: glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist; SGLT-2i: sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor; DPP-4i: dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor; T2DM: type 2 diabetes mellitus; ASCVD: atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; HF: heart failure; CKD: chronic kidney disease.