GLP-1 receptor agonists reduce risk of death from cardiovascular causes in diabetic patients

China: In studies assessing cardiovascular outcomes, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist medication might lower the risk of mortality from cardiovascular causes and fatal or nonfatal stroke compared to placebo, says an article published in BMC Journal.

Patients with type 2 diabetes are at a very high risk of cardiovascular events, including mortality from cardiovascular causes, fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction, and fatal or non-fatal stroke. GLP-1 receptor agonists, which are used as glucose-lowering chemotherapeutic drugs in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, have been demonstrated to alter the incidence of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, albeit the data are inconsistent. The cardiovascular clinical manifestations of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists in the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients remain debatable. Jing Qin and colleagues conducted this study to assess the risk of cardiovascular events associated with GLP-1 (exenatide, albiglutide, liraglutide, lixisenatide, semaglutide, and dulaglutide) receptor agonists in T2DM patients.

From inception to June 2019, PubMed and Embase were searched for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the impact of GLP-1 receptor agonists on cardiovascular events in T2DM patients. All eligible studies' T2DM patients received either GLP-1 medication or placebo, and the cardiovascular outcomes comprised mortality from cardiovascular causes, fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction, and fatal or non-fatal stroke.

The key findings of this study were as follow:

1. This analysis includes six global double-blind randomized placebo-controlled studies with 52821 T2DM patients.

2. When compared to the placebo controls, GLP-1 receptor agonists reduced the risk of mortality from cardiovascular causes and fatal or non-fatal stroke.

3. However, as compared to the placebo, GLP-1 receptor agonists had no effect on fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction.

In conclusion, this study found that GLP-1 receptor agonist medication decreased the risk of mortality from cardiovascular causes and fatal or non-fatal stroke in T2DM patients. Additional big RCTs are needed in the future to examine the therapeutic potential of GLP-1 receptor agonists in T2DM.

Reference:

Qin, J., & Song, L. (2022). Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis of double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials. In BMC Endocrine Disorders (Vol. 22, Issue 1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12902-022-01036-0