Comparison of adverse gastrointestinal effects of acarbose and miglitol in healthy men: a crossover study.
OBJECTIVE
The incidence of the gastrointestinal adverse effects is important to determine as these effects are the reason for lower compliance of alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (alphaGIs). There has been no direct investigation of the adverse effects with acarbose or miglitol, therefore we compared them in healthy subjects.


METHODS
Twenty-two healthy men were administered 75 mg of miglitol or 100 mg of acarbose per every meal for three days. After four drug-free washout days, they were administered 100 mg of acarbose or 75 mg of miglitol per every meal, respectively. They reported the state of their stool, borborygmi, abdominal bloating, flatus, and abdominal pain on the 1st and 3rd day.


RESULTS
Stool tended to be soft when miglitol was administered and to be firm when acarbose was administered. The flatus score of acarbose was greater than that of miglitol. The abdominal bloating score of acarbose was greater than that of miglitol on the 1st day.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that if diabetic patients have constipation, firm stool, or flatus they may be administered miglitol and if they have diarrhea or soft stool they may be administered acarbose.
Aoki
Kazutaka
K
Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama.
Muraoka
Tomonori
T
Ito
Yuzuru
Y
Togashi
Yu
Y
Terauchi
Yasuo
Y
D017485:1-Deoxynojirimycin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D020909:Acarbose / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000328:Adult; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005765:Gastrointestinal Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
D005765:Gastrointestinal Agents; C045621:miglitol; D017485:1-Deoxynojirimycin; D020909:Acarbose