α-glucosidase inhibitors compete with the α-glucosidase enzyme activity, which helps to reduce the conversion of carbohydrates into glucose and thereby control the postprandial hyperglycemia incidence.
Acarbose is an α-glucosidase inhibitor that suppresses postprandial hyperglycemia, however, the cardiovascular protection of acarbose has still remained controversial.
Further, a hypoglycemia test also verified that these α-glucosidase inhibitors had the potential to reduce post-prandial hyperglycaemia in C57BL/6 mice.
α-Glucosidase is an important enzyme in human intestine, and inhibition of its activity can lower blood sugar levels to effectively prevent hyperglycaemia induced tissue damage.
The inhibition of α-glucosidase is one of the alternatives approach to control postprandial hyperglycemia by, resulting in the delay of the carbohydrate digestion of absorbable monosaccharides.
Delaying the absorption of glucose through α-glucosidase enzymes inhibition is one of the therapeutic approaches in the management of Type 2 diabetes, which can reduce the incidence of postprandial hyperglycemia.