[Nateglinide and mitiglinide].

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus are associated with insulin resistance and/or impaired insulin secretion. Previous observations indicate that Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes tend to have impaired insulin response after glycemic load more often than Caucasian counterparts. Recently it has been reported that hyperglycemia after glucose load is itself a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular complications in the absence of elevated fasting plasma glucose. Recent observations on the association of post-challenge or post-prandial hyperglycemia with cardiovascular events suggest that lowering post-prandial plasma glucose may protect patients from developing cardiovascular diseases. Results of STOP-NIDDM trial suggest that nateglinide, which attenuates post-prandial glycemic surge in type 2 diabetes, may also be helpful for the protection against cardiovascular events. Nateglinide exerts its effects shortly after its administration and the effects continue for only about 3 hours. The patients receiving this agent rarely gain weight and develop hypoglycemia. This agent exerts hypoglycemic effects additively with alpha-gulucosidase inhibitors or metformin.