Abstract
Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease characterised by deteriorating β-cell function and glycaemic control. To counter this, affected individuals require regular intensification of their antidiabetes treatments to provide appropriate metabolic control. However, current treatment options – such as sulphonylureas, thiazolidinediones and insulins – induce weight gain, which can reduce patient acceptance and/or compliance with treatment and may have significant health implications. In addition, many of the antidiabetic therapies raise the risk of hypoglycaemic episodes. Therefore, patients, physicians and healthcare providers are looking for new therapeutic options to address this large and growing burden of diabetes. Incretin-based therapies – including glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors – are becoming a popular treatment option for patients with type 2 diabetes because they offer many benefits compared with other antidiabetic therapies. First, incretin-based therapies are associated with significant reductions in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) with a low inherent risk of hypoglycaemic events. In addition, GLP-1 receptor agonists are associated with reductions in bodyweight and systolic blood pressure. Incretin-based therapies such as liraglutide also offer the potential to improve β-cell function, an important underlying mechanism of type 2 diabetes.
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