Oral Hypoglycemic Drugs: Pathophysiological Basis of Their Mechanism of ActionOral Hypoglycemic Drugs: Pathophysiological Basis of Their Mechanism of Action

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes is a syndrome characterized by relative insulin deficiency, insulin resistance and increased hepatic glucose output. Medications used to treat the disease are designed to correct one or more of these metabolic abnormalities. Current recommendations of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) include diet and exercise as first-line therapy plus hypoglycemic drugs. Actually there are seven distinct classes of anti-hyperglicemic agents, each of them displaying unique pharmacologic properties. The aim of this review is to describe the pathophysiological basis of their mechanism of action, a necessary step to individualize treatment of diabetic people, taking into proper consideration potential benefits and secondary effects of drugs.

Antidiabetic and anti-oxidant activities of the methanol leaf extract of <i>Vernonia amygdalina</i> in alloxan-induced diabetes in Wistar rats

“…Based on existing data, type 2 diabetes accounts for around 90%-95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes mellitus worldwide (Mohan & Anbalagan 2013;Shaw, Sicree & Zimmet 2010;Uma & Sudarsanam 2012). At present, only insulin and oral antihyperglycaemic drugs are available for the management of diabetes (Lorenzati et al 2010). Although the currently available drugs are useful in controlling early onset complications of diabetes, serious late onset complications appear in a large number of patients (Tzoulaki et al 2009).…”

Chronic Administration of a Combination of Six Herbs Inhibits the Progression of Hyperglycemia and Decreases Serum Lipids and Aspartate Amino Transferase Activity in Diabetic Rats

“…Although early onset manifestations of diabetes can be controlled by current oral hypoglycemic drugs or insulin treatment, serious late onset complications appear in many patients [2]. Moreover, the hypoglycemic drugs lead to some unpleasant side effects such as lactic acidosis, peripheral edema, severe hypoglycemia, and abdominal discomfort [3]. Therefore, the search for new antidiabetic agents has continued.…”

Green Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles Capped with Procyanidins from Leucosidea sericea as Potential Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Agents

“…By estimation, this disease would have drastically increased by 48% in 28 years if not properly managed [13]. Although drugs like miglitol, vigliobose as well as acarbose are available in the market, they are costly and their continuous use is associated with side effects like diarrhea, dropsy, heart failure, damage to the liver, weight gain, abdominal pain, hyperglycemia, and flatulence, necessitating the need for more potent and newer remedies [14][15][16].It is well established that bioactive compounds in various plants possess significant effects in delaying and management of T2DM [17]. Extracts from different plants have been reported as alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase inhibitors [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27].…”