Objective      To compare the efficacy and safety between exenatide and saxagliptin when they are combined with metformin in treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.       Methods      A total of 74 type 2 diabetic patients with poor glycemic control admitted in our department from January 2011 to December 2012 were randomly divided into 2 groups

the exenatide group（n=37

17 male

s and 20 females

  55.6±8.2 years old）and the saxagliptin group（n=37，15 males and 22 females

57.6±8.6 years old）. Both groups were combined with Metformin therapy for 16 weeks. The main index of the effect was the change of glycosylated haemoglobin （HbA1c） before and after the treatment. The secondary indexes of the effect were the percentage of HbA1c(7.0%) and the decline of fasting blood glucose （FBG）.       Results      Exenatide resulted in HbA1c decreased by (0.75±0.69)% after the treatment

while saxagliptin caused a decrease by（0.59±0.89）%. FBG levels were decreased significantly in exenatide group than the saxagliptin group (1.79±1.29 vs 1.54±1.75 mmol/L

P

0.01）. However

there was no significant difference between the two groups in the control rate of HbA1c （38.2% vs 37.0%

P

0.05）. Furthermore，exenatide had significant effect on body weight and systolic blood pressure than saxagliptin（

P

0.05）. The adverse events of the 2 groups were slight

and there was no hypo-glycemia found in 2 groups.       Conclusion      Both exenatide and saxagliptin effectively control blood glucose for type 2 diabetes mellitus

with sound safety. Exenatide may be more beneficial to the patients accompanied with obesity and hypertension than saxagliptin.