Glucobay Indications/Uses

Glucobay is recommended for the treatment of non-insulin dependent (NIDDM) diabetes mellitus in patients inadequately controlled on diet alone, or on diet and oral hypoglycaemic agents.
Prevention of onset of NIDDM in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glycaemia*, in combination with diet and exercise.
*defined as plasma concentration between 7.8 and 11.1 mmol/l (140-200 mg/dl) 2 hours after an overload of 75 g glucose and fasting values between 5.6 and 7.0 mmol/l (100-125 mg/dl).
Mode of action: Glucobay is a competitive inhibitor of intestinal alpha-glucosidases with maximum specific inhibitory activity against sucrase. Under the influence of Glucobay, the digestion of starch and sucrose into absorbable monosaccharides in the small intestine is dose-dependently delayed. In diabetic subjects, this results in a lowering of postprandial hyperglycaemia and a smoothing effect on fluctuations in the daily blood glucose profile.
In contrast to sulphonylureas Glucobay has no stimulatory action on the pancreas.
Treatment with Glucobay also results in a reduction of fasting blood glucose and to modest changes in levels of glycated haemoglobin (HbA₁, HbA_1c). The changes may be a reduction or reduced deterioration in HbA₁ or HbA_1c levels, depending upon the patient's clinical status and disease progression. These parameters are affected in a dose-dependent manner by Glucobay.
Following oral administration, only 1-2% of the active inhibitor is absorbed.