Farmacja Polska (Feb 2021)
Possibilities of using analogues of glucagon-like peptide-1 in various disease entities
Abstract
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) plays an essential role in regulation of metabolism of carbohydrates. It enhances a glucose-dependent insulin secretion, inhibits secretion of glucagon, as well as delays gastric emptying. These functions lead to maintain lower glucose level. Through its effect on the central nervous system GLP-1 promotes satiety and decreases appetite, taking part in maintenance of appropriate body weight. Moreover, it demonstrates protective properties towards β cells in pancreas and cardiomyocytes. A new group of antihyperglycemic medicaments that exploits beneficial effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 has been developed – analogues of GLP-1. This type of drugs contains exenatide, lixisenatide, liraglutide, exenatide extended-release, albiglutide, dulaglutide and semaglutide. These substances activate the receptor of GLP-1 in an intermittent or in a continuous way. Their main characteristics include high efficiency in lowering the glycated haemoglobin and fasting plasma glucose levels, as well as noticeable reduction of body weight. At the same time they are deemed safe as they show fairly low risk of hypoglycemia. The latest reports highlight the potential possibilities of using GLP-1 analogues in different disease entities. It has been proved that receiving this type of medicaments improves the glucose tolerance in prediabetes, as well as lowers the cardiovascular risk. In addition, the aforementioned drugs show a nephroprotective action. Using GLP-1 analogues brings many advantages for patients suffering from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NASH). They are also effective in body weight reduction. Furthermore, they have a positive impact on cognitive processes, which means that they may be used in treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease. It is necessary to conduct more research into this group of medicaments, since many reports suggest their pleiotropic properties and therefore possibilities of applying them in the therapies of a number of disease entities, not only the ones connected with glucose tolerance disorders.
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