Liraglutide and Heart Failure in Type 2 Diabetes

Summary

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a naturally occurring incretin with insulinotropic properties. Apart from the glycemic actions, cardiovascular effects by GLP-1 have recently been reviewed. Receptors for GLP-1 are expressed in the rodent and human heart and acute activation of GLP-1 signalling has been shown to influence e.g. heart rate and blood pressure. In a knock-out mouse model, GLP-1R-/- mice exhibited a defective cardiovascular contractile response together with left ventricular hypertrophy. GLP-1 improves severe left ventricular heart failure in humans suffering from a myocardial infarction. Hence, it has been demonstrated that GLP-1 exerts direct functional effects through both GLP-1 receptor dependent and independent pathways in the heart. Native GLP-1 is an extremely short acting peptide, with a half-time breakdown of 1-2 minutes, a feature that makes it unsuitable as a drug treatment for type 2 diabetes. To this end, several long-acting GLP-1 analogues, drugs for treating type 2 diabetes, have been tested for this purpose. The analogue liraglutide exerts its effects via the native GLP-1 receptor, localized not only on the pancreatic β-cells, but also in the human heart. Interestingly, liraglutide has been demonstrated to have beneficial effect on heart function in mice. Taken together, recent data shows that GLP-1 and its stable analogue liraglutide exert beneficial cardiovascular effects. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue liraglutide improves heart function (measured as left ventricle longitudinal function and/or functional reserve during rest and/or after exercise) after 18 weeks of liraglutide + metformin, compared with glimepiride + metformin, using tissue Doppler echocardiography.

Timeline

Start

2012-01

Primary completion

2016-08

Completion

2016-08

Publications

• Scherbak NN, Kruse R, Nystrom T, Jendle J. Glimepiride Compared to Liraglutide Increases Plasma Levels of miR-206, miR-182-5p, and miR-766-3p in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Diabetes Metab J. 2023 Sep;47(5):668-681. doi: 10.4093/dmj.2022.0342. Epub 2023 Jun 22.
• Jendle J, Hyotylainen T, Oresic M, Nystrom T. Pharmacometabolomic profiles in type 2 diabetic subjects treated with liraglutide or glimepiride. Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2021 Dec 17;20(1):237. doi: 10.1186/s12933-021-01431-2.
• Jendle J, Fang X, Cao Y, Bojo L, Nilsson BK, Hedberg F, Santos-Pardo I, Nystrom T. Effects on repetitive 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure in subjects with type II diabetes randomized to liraglutide or glimepiride treatment both in combination with metformin: a randomized open parallel-group study. J Am Soc Hypertens. 2018 May;12(5):346-355. doi: 10.1016/j.jash.2018.02.003. Epub 2018 Feb 16.

Drugs

Indications