Historical Perspective

The area of diabetes research is rapidly evolving, and novel directions are being pursued based on new insights into glucose regulation. In recent years, scientific attention has included incretin hormones and their role in glycemic control. Incretins are intestinal hormones released in response to ingestion of food that, at physiologic levels, increase the insulin response in a glucose-dependent manner.^1,2 Interest in incretins as a basis for therapy has grown in recent years and has led to the discovery of new approaches for treating type 2 diabetes.