Publication at Second Faculty of Medicine |
2006
Abstract
Incretin hormones and peptides released from the gastrointestinal tract play a role in glucose homeostasis. The major incretin hormones are glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP).
GLP-1 stimulates insulin secretion in response to the ingestion of food, inhibits glucagon secretion by the alpha cells of the pancreatic islets, slows down gastric evacuation, enhances the feeling of satiety and stimulates replication and neogenesis of the beta cells of the pancreatic islets. As a result, it markedly reduces postprandial glycemic fluctuation.
As the therapeutic use of native GLP-1 is limited, a range of GLP-1 analogues were developed, with exenatide being the most important of them.