Comparison of incretin-based drugs: clinical advantage of GLP-1 analogue liraglutide

Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4)inhibitors are two classes of incretin-based drugs for type 2 diabetes treatment.GLP-1 receptor agonists can directly activate the GLP-1 receptor while DPP-4 inhibitors act indirectly via preventing incretin enzymatic degradation.The comparison of two classes of drugs in clinical use becomes a hot research topic.A head to head comparison study has shown that,compared with DPP-4 inhibitor sitagliptin,GLP-1 analogue liraglutide shows better blood glucose control,weight loss,and β-cell function improvement,as well as higher patient treatment satisfaction and better cost-effectiveness of drug economics.Those advantages of liraglutide provide an ideal choice for the clinical treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes. Key words: Incretin; Liraglutide; Sitagliptin; Diabetes mellitus, type 2