The α-glucosidase inhibitor voglibose stimulates delayed gastric emptying in healthy subjects: a crossover study with a 13 C breath test

The gastrointestinal effects of α-glucosidase inhibitors have not been sufficiently investigated. The aim of this study was to determine whether a single dose of pre-prandial voglibose might affect the rate of gastric emptying, determined using the C breath test. Ten healthy male volunteers participated in this randomized, two-way crossover study. The subjects fasted overnight and received 0.2 mg voglibose or a placebo 2 h before a test meal. They were then served a liquid test meal consisting of 200 kcal per 200 ml that contained 100 mg C-acetate. Breath samples were collected under both conditions until 150 min after the meal. A comparison of the control and voglibose conditions revealed that for gastric emptying rates (with values expressed as median: range), T [(87.9: 78.0-104.9 min) vs (88.4: 74.3-106.3 min), = 1], T [(47.1: 39.6-60.1 min) vs (45.4: 31.2-63.3 min), = 0.432], β [(1.89: 1.68-2.18) vs (1.90: 1.35-2.15), = 0.846] and κ [(0.81: 0.71-0.98) vs (0.81: 0.50-0.94), = 0.922] did not significantly differ between conditions. A significant difference between the control and voglibose conditions was found for the GEC [(4.28: 4.09-4.44) vs (4.06: 3.69-4.50), = 0.0138]. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the ingestion of oral voglibose led to delayed gastric emptying of a liquid meal.