Antidiabetic agents: past, present and future

• Published in: Future medicinal chemistry Vol. 5; no. 4; p. 411
• Main Author: Mehanna, Ahmed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-03-2013
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Diabetes Mellitus - diagnosis; Diabetes Mellitus - drug therapy; Diabetes Mellitus - epidemiology; Diabetes Mellitus - history; Drug Discovery - history; Drug Discovery - methods; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents - adverse effects; Hypoglycemic Agents - chemistry; Hypoglycemic Agents - pharmacology; Hypoglycemic Agents - therapeutic use; Molecular Sequence Data; Molecular Targeted Therapy - history; Molecular Targeted Therapy - methods
• ISSN: 1756-8927
• DOI: 10.4155/fmc.13.13

Treatment of diabetes mellitus requires, at a certain stage of its course, drug intervention. This article reviews the properties of available antidiabetic medications and highlights potential targets for developing newer and safer drugs. Antidiabetic agents are grouped in the article as parts I, II and III according to the history of development. Part I groups early developed drugs, during the 20th century, including insulin, sulfonylureas, the metiglinides, insulin sensitizers, biguanides and α-glucosidase inhibitors. Part II groups newer drugs developed during the early part of the 21st century, the past decade, including GLP-1 analogs, DPP-VI inhibitors, amylin analogs and SGLT2 inhibitors. Part III groups potential targets for future design of newer antidiabetic agents with less adverse effects than the currently available antidiabetic drugs.