Oral Acarbose Inhibits Baseline Salivary Amylase and Blunts Early Postprandial Glycemia: Randomized Cross-Over Study

This study investigated whether salivary α-amylase (SAA) inhibition by acarbose affects postprandial blood glucose (BG) in healthy individuals. This single-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized cross-over trial included 4 conditions: trial 1 (T1), placebo (oligosaccharide); trial 2 (T2), swallowing 50 mg of acarbose; and trials 3 and 4 (T3 and T4), simultaneous intake of starch (150 g of rice) with 50 mg or 100 mg of acarbose, respectively. Fifteen young, healthy women were enrolled. Peak ΔBG occurred at 30 min in both T1 and T2 and at 60 min in T3. ΔBG at 30 min was significantly lower in T3 and T4 than in T2 (both P <.05) without trial order effect, while BG areas under the curve did not differ between T2 and T3. Inhibition of SAA by oral acarbose reduced the early postprandial increase in BG compared with intact SAA activity in healthy individuals.