Abstract
Liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) receptor agonist, has showed favorable effects in the glycaemic control and weight reduction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The meta-analysis was to compare the efficacy and safety of liraglutide added to metformin with other treatments in patients with T2DM. A systematic literature search on PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane library databases were performed. Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of patients with T2DM who received the combination treatment of liraglutide and metformin. Pooled estimates were performed using a fixed-effects model or random-effects model. A total of nine RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Compared with control (placebo, sitagliptin, glimepiride, dulaglutide, insulin glargine, and NPH), liraglutide in combination with metformin resulted in significant reductions in HbA1c, bodyweight, FPG, and PPG, and similar reductions in SBP, and DBP. Moreover, liraglutide combined with metformin did not increase the risk of hypoglycemia, but induced a higher incidence of gastrointestinal disorders. In conclusion, this meta-analysis confirmed the use of liraglutide as add-on to metformin appeared to be effective and safe for patients with T2DM. However, considering the potential limitations in this study, more large-scale, well-conducted RCTs are needed to identify our findings.
Highlights
Liraglutide is a novel, long-acting GLP-1receptor agonist that is administered once-daily for the treatment of T2DM11
Pooled results showed that, compared with control, metformin plus liraglutide did not increase the risk of hypoglycemia (RR = 0.33, 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs): 0.08, 1.44; P = 0.140)
The addition of GLP-1 receptor agonist is recommended by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) as a therapeutic option for patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) whose HbA1c targets are not met or maintained with lifestyle modifications, with consideration of individual patient-related factors[47]
Summary
Liraglutide is a novel, long-acting GLP-1receptor agonist that is administered once-daily for the treatment of T2DM11. It has been approved by the European Union regulatory agency and United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Liraglutide has a half-life of 13 h, which allows for once-daily dosing subcutaneous administration[12,13,14]. The efficacy and safety of liraglutide have been extensively evaluated in several large-scale clinical trials, and their results suggest its positive effects in the reduction of blood glucose, body weight and systolic blood pressure (SBP)[15]. In this study we conducted a meta-analysis to compare the efficacy and safety of liraglutide plus metformin with other drugs in patients with T2DM
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