Altay M. Acarbose is again on the stage. World J Diabetes 2022; 13(1): 1-4 [PMID: 35070055 DOI: 10.4239/wjd.v13.i1.1]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Mustafa Altay, MD, Chairman, Professor, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Health Sciences Turkey, Keçiören Health Administration and Research Center, Pınarbaşı District, Ardahan St. No. 25, Keçiören 06290, Ankara, Turkey. mustafa.altay@sbu.edu.tr
Research Domain of This Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Diabetes. Jan 15, 2022; 13(1): 1-4 Published online Jan 15, 2022. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v13.i1.1
Acarbose is again on the stage
Mustafa Altay
Mustafa Altay, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Health Sciences Turkey, Keçiören Health Administration and Research Center, Keçiören 06290, Ankara, Turkey
Author contributions: Only Altay M contributed to this paper with conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mustafa Altay, MD, Chairman, Professor, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Health Sciences Turkey, Keçiören Health Administration and Research Center, Pınarbaşı District, Ardahan St. No. 25, Keçiören 06290, Ankara, Turkey. mustafa.altay@sbu.edu.tr
Received: March 31, 2021 Peer-review started: March 31, 2021 First decision: June 5, 2021 Revised: June 19, 2021 Accepted: December 22, 1021 Article in press: December 22, 1021 Published online: January 15, 2022
Abstract
Acarbose is an agent that has been used to treat type 2 diabetes for about 30 years; it prevents postprandial hyperglycemia by inhibiting carbohydrate digestion in the small intestine. Since incretin-based treatments have been preferred over the last 10 to 15 years, the use of acarbose is not as common in treating type 2 diabetes as before. Some studies have shown that acarbose also produces a weight-loss effect by increasing glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). The positive effect of acarbose on GLP-1, and increasing evidence that it provides cardiovascular protection, suggests that acarbose may again be considered among the first-choice antidiabetic agents, as it was in the 1990s.
Core Tip: The prevention of obesity and reducing cardiovascular risks, together with blood glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes, are the main components of the treatment’s goals. New studies show that acarbose can provide the expected benefits of an ideal antidiabetic drug by increasing both insulin sensitivity and glucagon-like peptide 1 levels.
