Inhibition of multifunctional dipeptidyl peptidase-IV: is there a risk of oncological and immunological adverse effects?
2010
Abstract
Inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) are a novel class of anti-diabetes drugs; inhibiting the breakdown of incretins, they increase their biological availability and decrease thus blood glucose levels. However, in addition to regulating glucose homeostasis, DPP-IV has many diverse functions, such as modulating cell growth, differentiation and transformation and immune function.
Within the immune system, DPP-IV exerts mainly stimulating effects, whilst its relation to malignancies is highly variable. Therefore, long-term inhibition of this enzyme could have serious side effects including immune dysregulation or increased risk of cancer.