title: Once-weekly exenatide: an extended-duration glucagon-like peptide agonist for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
abstract: Type 2 diabetes affects over 25 million people in the United States. There are many treatment options for patients with type 2 diabetes, but current treatments must be administered on a daily basis. Once-weekly exenatide, an extended-duration glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist, provides an option for patients to take a drug weekly, with pharmacotherapeutic effects that are superior to twice-daily exenatide and sitagliptin and comparable to insulin glargine. The DURATION trials provide evidence that once-weekly exenatide reduces hemoglobin A1c , and may result in weight loss. Once-weekly exenatide is marketed as a 2-mg injection administered subcutaneously once every 7 days. Adverse effects of once-weekly exenatide include gastrointestinal effects, hypoglycemia, injection-site reactions, pancreatitis, and antibody development. Patients with a self history or family history of thyroid tumors should avoid using once-weekly exenatide. Delayed gastric absorption with orally administered drugs is possible, and monitoring should occur to avoid loss in therapeutic effect. Once-weekly exenatide is a new extended-duration agent with efficacy and tolerability profiles comparative to older therapies. Appropriate patients for once-weekly exenatide would be those who are concerned about weight gain, hypoglycemia, or those who do not wish to administer injections daily.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Abilene, Texas 79601, USA. lly.minze@ttuhsc.edu
authors.forename: Molly G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Minze
authors.forename: Mary S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Michelle J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jernigan
authors.forename: Stephen L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Wise
authors.forename: Kristian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Frugé
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D000077270:Exenatide; D052216:Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 / Q000819:agonists; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D010455:Peptides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014688:Venoms / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D010455:Peptides; D014688:Venoms; D052216:Glucagon-Like Peptide 1; D000077270:Exenatide