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Pharmacodynamic comparison of acarbose tablets in Chinese healthy volunteers under chewing and swallowing conditions
Author(s) -
Ji Wei,
Yang Shaomei,
Zhang Wenyu,
Sun Zhongliang,
Wen Qing,
He Kun
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of clinical pharmacy and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.622
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2710
pISSN - 0269-4727
DOI - 10.1111/jcpt.13361
Subject(s) - acarbose , cmax , medicine , crossover study , dose , pharmacokinetics , pharmacodynamics , dosage form , pharmacology , bolus (digestion) , anesthesia , placebo , endocrinology , diabetes mellitus , alternative medicine , pathology
What is known and objective Acarbose can efficiently block glucose absorption in the intestine as an alpha‐glucosidase inhibitor. It is currently manufactured in several oral dosage forms, with the most common types being tablets and chewable tablets. The acarbose tablet (Glucobay ® , 50 mg, Bayer) package insert gives instructions for either directly swallowing or chewing then swallowing. This study compared the pharmacodynamic effects of a single formulation of acarbose tablets under these two different administration routes. Methods This randomized, crossover study enrolled 24 healthy subjects who were instructed to chew (C group) or swallow (S group) the acarbose tablet. Glucose levels were monitored in subjects for up to 4 h following administration of 75 g of sucrose to establish a baseline firstly, after which subjects in the C and S groups were administered 50‐ or 100‐ mg of acarbose along with 75 g of sucrose. Then, subjects entered a 1‐week washout period before being crossed over to the alternate dosing route. Results and discussion Compared with the S group, the C group had a lower maximum concentration of serum glucose ( C max ) and areas under the concentration–time curve (AUC 0‐2 , AUC 0‐1.5 ). In addition, the maximum reduction in serum glucose (Δ C max ) and the reduction in the AUC (AUEC 0‐1.5 ) were both increased in the S group. This occurred at both the 50 mg and 100 mg dosages. These results indicate that fluctuations in blood glucose were lower following chewing of the acarbose tablet. Both administration routes exhibited similar safety and tolerance profiles. What is new and conclusion In summary, chewing acarbose tablets appears to induce a superior glycaemic‐controlling effect compared with swallowing them directly, at least with a single dose. It will be important to inform both clinicians and patients about these differences between the two administrations so that informed clinical decisions can be made, as numerous patients with diabetes are inclined to directly swallow acarbose tablets for convenience.