Amylin: From Mode of Action to Future Clinical Potential in Diabetes and Obesity

Precision diabetology is increasingly becoming diabetes phenotype-driven, whereby the specific hormonal imbalances involved are taken into consideration. Concomitantly, body weight-favorable therapeutic approaches are being dictated by the obesity pandemic, which extends to all diabetes subpopulations. Amylin, an anorexic neuroendocrine hormone co-secreted with insulin, is deficient in individuals with diabetes and plays an important role in postprandial glucose homeostasis, with additional potential cardiovascular and neuroprotective functions. Its actions include suppressing glucagon secretion, delaying gastric emptying, increasing energy expenditure and promoting satiety. While amylin holds promise as a therapeutic agent, its translation into clinical practice is hampered by complex receptor biology, the limitations of animal models, its amyloidogenic properties and pharmacokinetic challenges. In individuals with advanced β-cell dysfunction, supplementing insulin therapy with pramlintide, the first and currently only approved injectable short-acting selective analog of amylin, has demonstrated efficacy in enhancing both postprandial and overall glycemic control in both type 2 diabetes (T2D) and type 1 diabetes (T1D) without increasing the risk of hypoglycemia or weight gain. Current research focuses on several key strategies, from enhancing amylin stability by attaching polyethylene glycol or carbohydrate molecules to amylin, to developing oral amylin formulations to improve patients’ convenience, as well as developing various combination therapies to enhance weight loss and glucose regulation by targeting multiple receptors in metabolic pathways. The novel synergistically acting glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist combined with the amylin agonist, CagriSema, shows promising results in both glucose regulation and weight management. As such, amylin agonists (combined with other members of the incretin class) could represent the elusive drug candidate to address the multi-hormonal dysregulations of diabetes subtypes and qualify as a precision medicine approach that surpasses the long overdue division into T1DM and T2DM. Further development of amylin-based therapies or delivery systems is crucial to fully unlock the therapeutic potential of this intriguing hormone.

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