Vol. 12, Issue 12 (2023)

Author(s):
Md. Jahed Rana

Abstract:
Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is a hormone released from the intestinal L-cell that stimulates insulin secretion from the beta cell of the pancreas and reduces glucose production in the liver. But it is degraded by dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) and thus has a shorter half-life (2-3 minutes). To overcome this limitation various agonists have been developed, among them Semaglutide shows tremendous efficacy against both type-2 diabetes mellitus. Semaglutide has higher albumin affinity due to the attachment of hydrophobic linker “γGlu-2xOEG” at the 26th position of lysine residue which enhances plasma half-life to 160 hours. Another modification happens in the 8th and 34th positions. It was developed by Novo Nordisk and is available in both injection and oral dosage forms in the market. Both were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and have high demand in the market for high efficacy and few side effects.