Miglitol may have a blood glucose lowering effect unrelated to inhibition of alpha-glucosidase

Summary Miglitol is an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor which lowers blood glucose and insulin concentrations in healthy volunteers after a starch meal. It also lowers blood glucose concentrations after a starch meal in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, but under these circumstances insulin is unaffected.We have studied the effect of miglitol after a glucose load in six healthy male volunteers. Although one would expect an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor to have no effect on blood glucose concentrations after a glucose load, miglitol produced a significant decrease in blood glucose concentrations after the absorption peak. This could be due to enhancement of insulin effects or to depression of anti-insulin factors.