MINI REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Clinical Diabetes
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1581403
Novel Glucose-Lowering Agents That Benefit Diabetic Foot: Icing on the Cake
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Endocrinology and Diabetic Foot Center, Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, Chongqing, China
- 2Department of Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States
- 3Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, Chongqing, China
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The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing and is linked to several complications, among which diabetic foot is significant. Novel glucose-lowering agents are sought that also have beneficial effects in reducing diabetic complications. Among the novel glucose-lowering agents demonstrating clinical promise, three classes stand out: dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4is), glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs), and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is). Some of these agents provide cardiovascular and kidney benefits, and there is evidence suggesting they also offer protective effects against diabetic foot complications. In this review, we summarize the preclinical and clinical evidence proof these three glucose-lowering agents for diabetic foot, highlighting their potential in enhancing diabetic wound healing and limb preservation. In conclusion, existing available trials have shown that certain DPP-4is and GLP-1RAs possess protective effects against diabetic foot conditions. However, SGLT2is have not demonstrated a significant protective effect. We encourage larger-scale studies on the protective effects of these three types of drugs for diabetic foot to guide physicians in providing personalized treatment strategies, achieving blood glucose targets, and promoting the healing of chronic wounds in patients.
Keywords: Diabetic Foot, novel glucose-lowering agents, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors
Received: 22 Feb 2025; Accepted: 11 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Yu, Rui, Lin, Yuan, Armstrong, Xu and Deng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yi Xu, Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, Chongqing, China
Wuquan Deng, Department of Endocrinology and Diabetic Foot Center, Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, Chongqing, China
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