A systematic review including 5 studies with a total of 1083 subjects was abstracted in DARE.
Three studies assessed the effect of acarbose treatment on patients on diet alone. Acarbose-treated patients showed a decrease in HbA1c concentration compared to controls, and a decrease in postprandial hyperglycaemia. There was no significant weight change for patients on acarbose or placebo.
Two studies assessed the effect of acarbose treatment in patients on diet and antidiabetic medication (tolbutamide, metformin, sulfonylurea or insulin). HbA1c and mean postprandial glucose declined in acarbose-treated patients, but increased for placebo.
Side effects (flatulence, meteorism, abdominal pain and diarrhoea) were relatively mild.
Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by severe limitations in review methodology. The review fails include information that is crucial to a good quality systematic review (e.g. the criteria used to assess the validity of the primary studies, the methods of data extraction).