Sustained Release Formulation: A Boon for Anti-diabetic Medications

In India, on an average, more than 80% of people are suffering from diseases (either chronic or temporary), and for their treatment and management, they depend on medicine. The medicines are available in both conventional dosage form (immediate release dosage form) as well as modified drug release dosage form (i.e. sustained release).
So let us enlighten you,
what is sustained release formulation and why it is prefered over conventional one?
During the formulation of any medicine, patient compliance and safety is the primary concern.

What is the sustained release formulation?
Sustained release formulation is defined as the dosage form, designed to release drug (active substance) at a predetermined rate, to achieve desired drug concentration in blood plasma or target site for a specific period of time.
Sustained release formulation facilitates both temporal (time-related) and spatial (target site related) therapeutic benefits.
The main objective of sustained release formulation is to provide an extended duration of action of medicaments with minimum side effects and thus improve patient compliance.

Advantages of sustained release formulation:

• Reduction in dosing frequency ( frequency of drug administration)
• Improve patient compliance
• Maintain the uniform level of drug in plasma
• Reduction in the amount of dose.
• Reduce the local as well as systemic toxicity by direct delivery of the drug to the target site.
• Increased stability of the drug.

Sustained release formulation serves a vital role in the management of chronic diseases such as Diabetes Mellitus (DM). In the current scenario, India has the largest number of patient with diabetes in the world. So, almost everyone is familiar with DM.
So let us discuss,
A brief about what is diabetes? What is the third line antidiabetic drug? Also, why sustained release antidiabetic drug is more beneficial?

What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder, in which blood glucose/sugar level raised.
In case of diabetes mellitus, the beta cells of the pancreas are no longer able to make insulin (a hormone that regulates the tissues uptake of glucose) or unable to utilize the insulin present in the body.
Diabetes mellitus is of two types,

• Type1 DM (Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or juvenile diabetes) generally occur when the body is unable to produce insulin.
• Type2 DM (Non-insulin dependent diabetes or adult-onset diabetes) generally occur when the body produces less insulin or unable to use insulin properly.

The management of diabetes mellitus can be done by both lifestyle modification as well as proper antidiabetic medication.
Glimepiride + Metformin + Voglibose is the third line antidiabetic drug for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
It is the most widely prefered drug when diet, exercise, single therapy, as well as combination therapy (second line drug) is unable to control the raised blood glucose level.
It is available in the form of sustained release formulation.

How glimepiride+metformin+voglibose work?

It is the combination therapy of glimepiride (sulfonylurea), metformin (biguanides) and voglibose (alpha-glucosidase inhibitor).

• Glimepiride is an insulin secretagogue, it decreases blood glucose level by stimulating the release of insulin from pancreatic beta cells mainly by blocking ATP sensitive potassium channel.
• Metformin is an insulin sensitizer, and it reduces the production of glucose in the liver mainly by inhibiting gluconeogenesis (a metabolic pathway for the generation of glucose from protein and lipid) and glycogenolysis ( the process of breakdown of glycogen into glucose)
• Voglibose is an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, which prevents the breakdown of complex sugar (oligosaccharide and disaccharides) into simple sugar (glucose).

Side effects related to the glimepiride+metformin+voglibose combination
USFDA approved it as a safe and effective third line drug for the management of type2 DM.
Some common side effects are Nausea, flatulence, stomach pain, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar level), diarrhoea, headache and skin rashes.

Why is sustained release antidiabetic drug more beneficial?
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease, and the duration of treatment therapy is for a lifetime. The benefits of sustained release formulation are:

• Improve patient compliance by reducing the frequency of dosing
• Reduction in the amount of dose.
• Reduced gastrointestinal side effects (such as diarrhoea, abdominal discomfort and flatulence) related to the antidiabetic drug.
• Improve patient adherence by the simple dosing regimen.

Concluding, sustained release formulation improves patient compliance by reducing the frequency of dosing, provides an extended duration of action with minimum side effects.
Glimepiride+Metformin+Voglibose combination is a third line antidiabetic drug for the management of type2 DM.
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The antidiabetic drug Glimepiride 2mg + metformin 500mg + voglibose 0.2mg (Sustained release tablet) are readily available with their online pharmacy 24 with huge discounts up to 80%. They provide medicines at an affordable price.