Dapagliflozin: A new hope for the therapeutic treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (Type 2) is a major world health problem spreading speedily throughout the world. It is a chronic illness that necessitates long-term therapy and care. Therefore, the therapy to treat and manage the disease should not only be safe and effective but should also be affordable. In countries like India, the cost of the therapy must be economical so that it can be easily afforded by common people. This review article mainly focuses on the novel drug dapagliflozin, a SGLT-2 inhibitor, and discusses its various aspects. It acts independently of the insulin pathway by inhibiting the reuptake of glucose in the renal tubules, allowing glycosuria to take place. This helps decrease blood glucose levels. Dapagliflozin is effective as both, monotherapy and combination therapy depending on the severity of the case as indicated by multiple studies. Since, only one daily dose is sufficient, this may be a more reasonable option for many low-income group patients. Many new medications are in development but dapagliflozin could be the major turning factor in managing T2DM along with metformin, sulfonylurea, insulin, pioglitazone, and DPP-4 inhibitors as mono or combination therapy.