Amylin and Lilly's diabetes drug Byetta has rapid, powerful anti-inflammatory effect

Byetta (exenatide), a drug which has been co-developed and now marketed by US biotech firm Amylin (Nasdaq: AMLN) and drug major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and commonly prescribed to help patients with type 2 diabetes improve blood sugar control, also has a powerful and rapid anti-inflammatory effect, a University at Buffalo, USA, study - funded by the two companies - has shown.

"Our most important finding was this rapid, anti-inflammatory effect, which may lead to the inhibition of atherosclerosis, the major cause of heart attacks, strokes and gangrene in diabetics," says Paresh Dandona, UB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Medicine, UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and senior author. It was especially noteworthy that this anti-inflammatory effect occurred independently of weight loss over the 12-week study period, he adds.

"The fact that the drug caused this dramatic and comprehensive anti-inflammatory effect, independent of weight loss, shows that it is a primary action of the drug and is not dependent upon weight loss," says Ajay Chaudhuri, associate professor of medicine at UB and lead author. He explains that, since obesity is an inflammatory state and adipose tissue contributes to inflammation, weight loss on its own can lead to an anti-inflammatory effect.