GLP-1 RAs Reduce Risk for Clinically Important Kidney, CVD Outcomes

FRIDAY, Dec. 6, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) reduce the risk for clinically important kidney and cardiovascular disease outcomes in individuals with type 2 diabetes, according to research published online Nov. 25 in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Sunil V. Badve, Ph.D., from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that compared a GLP-1 RA to placebo among participants with type 2 diabetes. Post hoc, the SELECT trial, which enrolled participants with cardiovascular disease and a body mass index of 27 kg/m² or greayer without diabetes, was included. The meta-analysis included 11 trials with 85,373 participants (67,769 with type 2 diabetes).

The researchers found that GLP-1 RAs reduced the composite kidney outcome, kidney failure, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), and all-cause death compared with placebo (hazard ratios, 0.82, 0.84, 0.87, and 0.88, respectively) in participants with type 2 diabetes. On inclusion of the SELECT trial, the effect on the composite kidney outcome, kidney failure, MACE, and all-cause death was similar (hazard ratios, 0.81, 0.84, 0.86, and 0.87, respectively), with no evidence of heterogeneity between the trials. The GLP-1 RA and placebo groups had no differences in the risk for serious adverse events, including acute pancreatitis and severe hypoglycemia.

“Taken together, these results and the breadth of the benefits observed support an important role for GLP-1 receptor agonists as kidney-protective and heart-protective medications that could play an important role in addressing the global burden of noncommunicable diseases,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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