Abstract
The physiological effects of the incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide-(GLP-)1 have contributed to the important role that incretin-based therapies with GLP-1 analogs or dipeptidyl peptidase-(DPP-)4 inhibitors already play in type 2 diabetes treatment. This development is not only due to the glucose-dependent insulinotropic effect of GLP-1 as well as the positive effects on beta cell function and, probably, beta cell mass, but also to the beneficial effects on body weight.Lately, the data on positive cardiovascular effects of GLP-1 have been growing. In animal models, GLP-1 improves left ventricular function and diminishes myocardial defects in ischemia models. In clinical studies with GLP-1 analogs, a normalization of blood pressure was observed and some of the data from animal studies after myocardial infarction or after invasive cardiologic or cardiosurgical interventions were also found under clinical conditions in humans. Additionally, an improvement of cardiovascular surrogate parameters was observed with incretin-based therapies. This review gives an overview on the cardiovascular effects of GLP-1 and incretin-based therapies.
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