Alogliptin: efficiency, safety, new possibilities

Alogliptin, a dipeptidylpeptidase-4 inhibitor, is an oral hypoglycemic agent approved in many countries for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes, including the United States, Europe, and Japan. The drug is effective both as a monotherapy, and as an additional or combined treatment of type 2 diabetes. Alogliptin is well tolerated by patients, including the elderly, as well as those suffering from kidney and / or liver failure or having a high risk of cardiovascular events. The low risk of hypoglycemia, weight gain, acute pancreatitis, and side gastrointestinal events. During treatment with alogliptin has been demonstrated in both long-term (up to 4.5 years) studies and in actual clinical practice. Alogliptin increases postprandial levels of the glucagon-like peptide-1, which leads to insulin secretion and normalization of glucose homeostasis. Treatment with alogliptin is associated not only with improved glucose metabolism, but also with a decrease in blood pressure and arterial rigidity in patients with arterial hypertension and diabetes, as well as normalizing the lipid profile. In patients with diabetes mellitus who have recently undergone acute coronary syndrome and received alogliptin, the frequency of serious adverse cardiovascular events does not increase. Experimental data show that alogliptin reduces ventricular hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis, and diastolic dysfunction. Alogliptin has a number of unique properties. It is assumed that it can increase the number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells that play an important role in endothelial repair and neovascularization. Alogliptin preserves the functionality and structure of the mitochondria of cardiomyocytes. The drug may be a potential treatment for patients with MODY1 diabetes at an early stage of the disease, when residual insulin secretion is preserved. Treatment with a fixed combination of Alogliptin + Metformin results in better glycemic control than monotherapy and is well tolerated. There is evidence that treatment with alogliptin is not associated with an increased risk of pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer.