Sulfonylureas: background and development of the field.

This paper traces the growth of the field from the incidental finding of the hypoglycemic "side effect" of certain antibacterial sulfonamides and sulfonylureas (1942), to the establishment of islet beta cell stimulation and insulin release as a major mechanism of action of these drugs (1946), to the more recent findings that additional effects exist on the level of cell metabolism and its regulation by hormones. These changing concepts of mechanism have influenced the clinical uses of these drugs.