Comparison of Adverse Gastrointestinal Effects of Acarbose and Miglitol in Healthy Men: A Crossover Study

Objective The incidence of the gastrointestinal adverse effects is important to determine as these effects are the reason for lower compliance of alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (alpha GIs). There has been no direct investigation of the adverse effects with acarbose or miglitol, therefore we compared them in healthy subjects. Methods Twenty-two healthy men were administered 75 mg of miglitol or 100 mg of acarbose per every meal for three days. After four drug-free washout days, they were administered 100 mg of acarbose or 75 mg of miglitol per every meal, respectively. They reported the state of their stool, borborygmi, abdominal bloating, flatus, and abdominal pain on the 1st and 3rd day. Results Stool tended to be soft when miglitol was administered and to be firm when acarbose was administered. The flatus score of acarbose was greater than that of miglitol. The abdominal bloating score of acarbose was greater than that of miglitol on the 1st day. Conclusion Our results suggest that if diabetic patients have constipation, firm stool, or flatus they may be administered miglitol and if they have diarrhea or soft stool they may be administered acarbose.