A brief history of GLP 1 analogue

I have always wondered about the wisdom of naming “Glucagon like peptide” when it has no functional resemblance to glucagon. Now that i finally have the answer Alhamduillah, lets share the amazing fact.

It all basically started with the discovery of Insuin (from latin Insula: Island) in 1921 by banting & Best. Eli Lilly was the first company who commercially produced insulin. Type 1 patient was blessed by this but insulin sometimes caused hypoglycaemia. As happened with gold rush in US, everybody was now curiously examining this organ called pan-creas (all-flesh, no bone). Among them were Kimball and Murlin, who discovered in 1922 that, there is something in pancreatic extract which increases blood glucose. So, it must be something different from Insulin. They named it “the glucose agonist”, hence glucagon ! Voila ! The same Eli Lily then purified and marketed glucagon in 1950 which could be used to treat insulin induced hypoglycaemia.

 

 

Remember the gold rush analogy? Shortly after the this events, Radioimmune assay was developed to find glucagon in blood & tissue sample (they used Ab that could bind to glucagon). The scientist discovered that there is presence of “glucagon-like” structure in extra pancreatic tissue, particularly in Intestine. They were calling it Glucagon like because it was clearly not glucagon. How? well, they have found this “glucagon like” thing in pancreatectomy patients in 1967 and the following year scientists have found that this new chemical is found more when glucose is given intra duodenally than orally. By 1980, we knew that there is a large protein called “Pre-Proglucagon” which give rise both to pancreatic glucagon and intestinal Glucagon like peptides. GLP 1 analogue was first available on 2005 for clinical use.

Lets sum it up in a simple way ok?

A person who knows nothing about doctors have seen some movies where doctors are those who wear white coats. Now he is interested to meet a real doctor. He stands in the gate of a Medical College. Some Doctor wearing the white coat exits and talks to him. moments later, a nurse come out with the same white coat. The man asks “ You must be A Doctor too right?” She explains, although we both are the product of same institution ( Pre-Proglucagon) and we may look same (Glucagon-like) and have the same white coat size ( similar immune reaction in Radio-immune assay) but everything about us is different.
  • GLP 1 increases Insulin
  • Decreases Glucagon
  • Increases satiety
  • Decreases gastric transit