Recent cohort studies such as Diabetes Epidemiology: Collaborative Analysis of Diagnostic Criteria in Europe (DECODE) in Europe and FUNAGATA in Japan have demonstrated that postprandial hyperglycemia is a strong independent risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), reflecting pre-diabetic subjects, or type 2 diabetes (1, 2). Furthermore, the Study To Prevent Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (STOP-NIDDM) trial reported that suppression of postprandial hyperglycemia in subjects with IGT, the pre-diabetic stage, by treatment with the a-glucosidase inhibitor (a-GI) acarbose, which suppresses postprandial hyperglycemia by inhibiting the carbohydrate digestion in the small intestine, reduces the incidence of CVD as well as the development of type 2 diabetes (3). These lines of evidence indicate that inhibition of postprandial hyperglycemia from the pre-diabetic stage could inhibit CVD development.Many previous studies have shown that CVDs are related to activation of leukocytes such as neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages, and associated disorders of vascular endothelial function. Postprandial hyperglycemia activates the leukocytes through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by activated neutrophils and enhanced glucose metabolism in mitochondria (4). The activated leukocytes secrete inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1b and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a (5, 6). These inflammatory cytokines Summary It has been reported that postprandial hyperglycemia from the pre-diabetic stage, especially from the impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) stage, is positively associated with subsequent incidences of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and type 2 diabetes. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether treatment with a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP-4I) or an a-glucosidase inhibitor (a-GI), either of which suppresses postprandial hyperglycemia, reduces the expression of CVD risk factors in an IGT animal model. A DPP-4I, anagliptin (1,200 ppm), or an a-GI, miglitol (600 ppm), in the diet was administered for 47 wk to Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats, a model for spontaneously-developed type 2 diabetes, at the IGT stage. We examined whether each treatment reduced the expression of CVD risk factors such as inflammatory cytokines/cytokine-like factors in peripheral leukocytes and adhesion molecules in the aortic tissues and circulation. Treatment with either drug reduced IGT development and repressed expression of the interleukin-1b, tumor necrosis factor-a, S100a9, and S100a11 genes in peripheral leukocytes in the fasting state at weeks 25 and 39. The mRNA levels of E-selectin in aortic tissues and protein levels of the soluble forms of E-selectin and ICAM-1 in arterial blood were significantly lower in the anagliptin and miglitol groups than in the control group. Our results suggest that long-term treatment with anagliptin or miglitol in OLETF rats at the IGT stage suppresses the expression of inflammatory ...