- Rates of type 2 diabetes are increasing rapidly worldwide.
- Treatment with GLP-1 agonists helps regulate blood glucose levels and decrease appetite to manage type 2 diabetes.
- However, the drugs break down rapidly in the body, so patients need regular oral tablets or injections.
- A new study has fused native GLP-1 with another protein to increase the half-life of the compound.
- This may be a first step in developing a longer-acting treatment for type 2 diabetes.
A study by scientists at the University of Tabriz, Iran, has engineered a novel long-acting GLP-1 agonist that, if successful in clinical trials, may increase the time between treatments for those with type 2 diabetes.
The study is published in
Diabetes, a chronic condition where a person’s blood glucose levels are too high, currently affects some
At least
GLP-1 agonists work by lowering blood glucose levels, slowing stomach emptying, and stimulating insulin secretion. However, they have one disadvantage — they have a short half-life, and all except one are given by subcutaneous injection, so people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) must take tablets once or twice a day or injections every day or once a week.
The
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