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Glucagon‐like peptide‐1‐based therapies: new developments and emerging data
Author(s) -
Garber Alan J.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
diabetes, obesity and metabolism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.445
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1463-1326
pISSN - 1462-8902
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-1326.2008.00921.x
Subject(s) - exenatide , incretin , liraglutide , vildagliptin , medicine , sitagliptin , type 2 diabetes , diabetes mellitus , pharmacology , bioinformatics , endocrinology , biology
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic, progressive disease characterized by an inexorable decline in β‐cell function. Current treatments fail to manage this continued β‐cell failure, and eventually patients with type 2 diabetes will require insulin therapy. The ‘ideal’ therapy for type 2 diabetes needs to provide not only effective glycaemic control with no weight gain and preferably, no hypoglycaemia, but also address continued β‐cell deterioration. The development of glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1) based therapies provides an alternative to traditional oral antidiabetic drugs. Here, we present the evidence base showing that the incretin mimetics (exenatide, exenatide long‐acting release and liraglutide) and the incretin enhancers (sitagliptin and vildagliptin) offer significant glycaemic improvements over existing treatments, with low rates of hypoglycaemia. In addition, we present evidence to show that incretin mimetics are associated with significant weight loss, in contrast to incretin enhancers, which are weight neutral. Finally, we summarize and discuss the key features of the incretin enhancers and incretin mimetics in terms of glycaemic control, side effects and flexibility of treatment regimen.