RESEARCH ARTICLE
Medicinal Chemistry and Applications of Incretins and DPP-4 Inhibitors in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Mohamed Lotfy1, Jaipaul Singh2, Huba Kalász3, Kornelia Tekes4, Ernest Adeghate*, 5
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2011Volume: 5
Issue: Suppl 2
First Page: 82
Last Page: 92
Publisher ID: TOMCJ-5-82
DOI: 10.2174/1874104501105010082
Article History:
Received Date: 12/2/2011Revision Received Date: 27/3/2011
Acceptance Date: 30/3/2011
Electronic publication date: 9/9/2011
Collection year: 2011
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major metabolic disorder currently affecting over 200 million people worldwide. Approximately 90% of all diabetic patients suffer from Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The world's economy coughs out billions of dollars annually to diagnose, treat and manage patients with diabetes. It has been shown that the naturally occurring gut hormones incretins, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) can preserve the morphology and function of pancreatic beta cell. In addition, GIP and GLP-1 act on insulin receptors to facilitate insulin-receptor binding, resulting in optimal glucose metabolism. This review examines the medicinal chemistry and roles of incretins, specifically, GLP-1 and drugs which can mimic its actions and prevent its enzymatic degradation. The review discussed GLP-1 agonists such as exenatide, liraglutide, taspoglutide and albiglutide. The paper also identified and reviewed a number of inhibitors, which can block dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4), the enzyme responsible for the rapid degradation of GLP-1. These DPP-4 inhibitors include sitagliptin, saxagliptin, vildagliptin and many others which are still in the experimental phase.
