Potential pharmacokinetics interference between alpha-glucosidase inhibitors and other oral antidiabetic agents.

In the study recently reported by Chiasson et al. (1), it was concluded that miglitol, a pseudomonosaccharide α-glucosidase inhibitor, can be combined effectively with metformin therapy to give significantly greater reductions in HbAlc and postprandial plasma glucose levels than metformin alone in middle-aged patients in whom type 2 diabetes is insufficiently controlled by diet alone. The combined therapy had a good safety profile, with only a trend toward an increase in the number of gastrointestinal side-effects due to miglitol acting at the small intestine by delaying the digestion of complex carbohydrates (2).