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Two groups of incretin mimetic drugs are effective for treating patients with type 2 diabetes. Both groups augment the activity of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), causing increased glucose-related insulin secretion, reduced glucagon release, and delayed gastric emptying. One group, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, acts by slowing the degradation of endogenous GLP-1; the other group, direct GLP-1 receptor agonists, is degraded more slowly than its endogenous analogues. Few head-to-head comparisons of the two groups are available.
In an open-label international trial, researchers randomized 665 patients with type 2 diabetes who had glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels of 7.5% to 10.0% after ≥3 months of metformin monotherapy to re…