AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The insulinotropic hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), is rapidly degraded in vivo as a result of the combination of extensive enzymatic degradation and renal extraction. The GLP-1 receptor agonist, exendin-4, has a longer duration of action, and has recently been approved as a new agent for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Exendin-4 is less prone to enzymatic degradation, but it is still unclear what other factors contribute to the increased metabolic stability.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The overall metabolism of GLP-1 and exendin-4 was directly compared in anaesthetised pigs (n=9).

RESULTS: Metabolism of GLP-1 (C-terminal RIA; t (1/2) 2.0+/-0.2 min, metabolic clearance rate [MCR] 23.2+/-2.8 ml min(-1) kg(-1); N-terminal RIA; t (1/2) 1.5+/-0.2 min, MCR 88.1+/-10.6 ml min(-1) kg(-1)) was significantly faster than the metabolism of exendin-4 (t (1/2) 22.0+/-2.1 min, p<0.0001; MCR 1.7+/-0.3 ml min(-1) kg(-1), p<0.01). Differences in arteriovenous concentrations revealed organ extraction of GLP-1 by the kidneys (C-terminal 56.6+/-2.6%; N-terminal 48.3+/-5.9%), liver (N-terminal 41.4+/-3.8%), and peripheral tissues (C-terminal 42.3+/-6.0%; N-terminal 33.0+/-7.8%), whereas organ extraction of exendin-4 was limited to the kidneys (21.3+/-4.9%). While the renal extraction of exendin-4 (6.9+/-2.5 pmol/min) did not differ significantly from the amount undergoing glomerular filtration (8.4+/-2.0 pmol/min), the renal extraction of C-terminal GLP-1 (9.0+/-1.1 pmol/min), exceeded the amount which could be accounted for by glomerular filtration (4.2+/-0.5 pmol/min, p<0.0005).

CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: In addition to an increased resistance to enzymatic degradation, the increased stability of exendin-4 is the result of reduced differential organ extraction compared to GLP-1. The data suggest that in the anaesthetised pig, extraction occurs only in the kidney and can be fully accounted for by glomerular filtration.