Effect of GRP119 Receptor Agonist, Compound MBX-2982, on Activity of Human Glucokinase

Tetrazoles and Related Heterocycles as Promising Synthetic Antidiabetic Agents

Tetrazole heterocycle is a promising scaffold in drug design, and it is incorporated into active pharmaceutical ingredients of medications of various actions: hypotensives, diuretics, antihistamines, antibiotics, analgesics, and others. This heterocyclic system is metabolically stable and easily participates in various intermolecular interactions with different biological targets through hydrogen bonding, conjugation, or van der Waals forces. In the present review, a systematic analysis of the activity of tetrazole derivatives against type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been performed. As it was shown, the tetrazolyl moiety is a key fragment of many antidiabetic agents with different activities, including the following: peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) agonists, protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibitors, aldose reductase (AR) inhibitors, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists, G protein-coupled receptor (GPCRs) agonists, glycogen phosphorylases (GP) Inhibitors, α-glycosidase (AG) Inhibitors, sodium glucose co-transporter (SGLT) inhibitors, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) inhibitors, IkB kinase ε (IKKε) and TANK binding kinase 1 (TBK1) inhibitors, and 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1). In many cases, the tetrazole-containing leader compounds markedly exceed the activity of medications already known and used in T2DM therapy, and some of them are undergoing clinical trials. In addition, tetrazole derivatives are very often used to act on diabetes-related targets or to treat post-diabetic disorders.

GPR119 agonists for the treatment of type 2 diabetes: an updated patent review (2014-present)

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes is a rapid-growing complex chronic metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia due to lessened insulin secretion, insulin resistance and hepatic glucose overproduction. GPR119 is a class A of G protein-coupled receptor, expressed on certain enteroendocrine L and K cells in the small intestine and by β-cells within the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas. Activation of GPR119 stimulates the secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in the intestinal tract and glucose-dependent release of insulin in pancreatic β-cells.Area covered: This review summarized the reported patents on GPR119 agonists from 2014 to present. The authors described the structural features of these novel synthetic molecules and compared their biological activities (including in vitro and in vivo) as potent GPR119 agonists for the treatment of diabetes.Expert opinion: GPR119 agonists remain the advantage of stimulating both insulin and incretin release in a glucose-dependent manner over other hypoglycemic agents, although some GPR119 agonist clinical candidates have been discontinued in Phase І or Phase II. GPR119 agonists will succeed to be developed as anti-diabetic drugs after accumulated scaffolds of agonists are discovered and the crystallographic structure of GPR119 is elucidated. The synergic effect of GPR119 agonist and DPP-4 inhibitor will also elicit a benefit for the new therapeutic of diabetes.

Long-Acting Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists Suppress Voluntary Alcohol Intake in Male Wistar Rats

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a chronic relapsing condition characterized by compulsive alcohol-seeking behaviors, with serious detrimental health consequences. Despite high prevalence and societal burden, available approved medications to treat AUD are limited in number and efficacy, highlighting a critical need for more and novel pharmacotherapies. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a gut hormone and neuropeptide involved in the regulation of food intake and glucose metabolism via GLP-1 receptors (GLP-1Rs). GLP-1 analogs are approved for clinical use for diabetes and obesity. Recently, the GLP-1 system has been shown to play a role in the neurobiology of addictive behaviors, including alcohol seeking and consumption. Here we investigated the effects of different pharmacological manipulations of the GLP-1 system on escalated alcohol intake and preference in male Wistar rats exposed to intermittent access 2-bottle choice of 10% ethanol or water. Administration of AR231453 and APD668, two different agonists of G-protein receptor 119, whose activation increases GLP-1 release from intestinal L-cells, did not affect voluntary ethanol intake. By contrast, injections of either liraglutide or semaglutide, two long-acting GLP-1 analogs, potently decreased ethanol intake. These effects, however, were transient, lasting no longer than 48 h. Semaglutide, but not liraglutide, also reduced ethanol preference on the day of injection. As expected, both analogs induced a reduction in body weight. Co-administration of exendin 9-39, a GLP-1R antagonist, did not prevent liraglutide- or semaglutide-induced effects in this study. Injection of exendin 9-39 alone, or blockade of dipeptidyl peptidase-4, an enzyme responsible for GLP-1 degradation, via injection of sitagliptin, did not affect ethanol intake or preference. Our findings suggest that among medications targeting the GLP-1 system, GLP-1 analogs may represent novel and promising pharmacological tools for AUD treatment.