Alpha-Glucosidase Inhibitors: Alpha-glucosidase is an enzyme that is capable of breaking down carbohydrates into shorter sugar particles like glucose, in sequence for the carbohydrates to be absorbed.Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs), sometimes pointed to as starch blockers are anti-diabetic drugs that further to diminish post-meal blood glucose levels. Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs) are a group of drugs utilized to treat type 2 diabetes.
Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors work by ambitious and reversible inhibition of those intestinal enzymes. They diminish the digestion of carbohydrates and delay glucose absorption. This happens in a smaller and moderate rise in blood glucose levels following meals, and efficiently throughout the day. AGIs have exhibited in reducing post-meal blood sugars and therefore helping to lower HbA1c, especially while used in combination with other diabetes drugs.
How alpha-glucosidase inhibitors work?
AGIs slow down digestion by blocking enzymes in the small intestine that break down the digestion of complex carbohydrates, also called starches.
By blocking these enzymes, by alpha-glucosidase inhibitors can slow down the digestion of carbohydrates, so that glucose from food enters the bloodstream more slowly, thus decreasing the rise in blood glucose levels following eating.
Medications in the Alpha-Glucosidase Inhibitors Family
- Acarbose(Precose)
- Miglitol(Glyset)
Brand name in a bracket.
It is normally used as single treatment, but in some cases can be taken in combination with a sulphonylurea.
Side effects of Alpha-Glucosidase Inhibitors
Common side effects include:
- Flatulence (Passing of gas)
- Feeling bloated.
- Diarrhoea
- Belly pain.
However, these effects normally diminish as your body adjusts to the medication.
