Research
Hormonal
GLP-1 receptor agonists (e.g., exenatide, liraglutide) and DPP-IV inhibitors preserve beta-cell mass by stimulating proliferation, neogenesis, and inhibiting apoptosis.
GLP-1 based drugs (injections like exenatide/liraglutide or oral DPP-IV inhibitors like sitagliptin) can help your pancreas make more beta-cells and stop them from dying. This is achieved by mimicking or extending the action of the GLP-1 hormone.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
The chronic action is stimulating beta-cell proliferation, induction of islet neogenesis, and inhibition of beta-cell apoptosis, thus promoting expansion of beta-cell mass, as observed in rodent diabetes and in cultured beta-cells.
Why this rating
The paper notes that while rodent/cultured cell evidence is strong, clinical evidence in humans is difficult to estimate and not fully established.
Source
β-Cell Failure in Diabetes and Preservation by Clinical Treatment
B L Wajchenberg · Endocrine Reviews · 2007
DOI 10.1210/10.1210/er.2006-0038
narrative_reviewCited 715×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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