Liraglutide Improves Cardiovascular Risk as an Add-on to Metformin and Not to Insulin Secretagogues in Type 2 Diabetic Patients: A Real-life 48-Month Retrospective Study

INTRODUCTION: Although liraglutide is widely recognized to have glycemic and extra-glycemic effects, few studies have compared these effects in relation to hypoglycemic treatment starting from the diagnosis of diabetes. We evaluated the effectiveness of liraglutide in reducing the Framingham risk score (FRS) and visceral adiposity index (VAI) in relation to first-line hypoglycemic treatment from diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, continued without any changes. METHODS: We selected 105 diabetic outpatients who were treated with liraglutide for at least 48 months as an add-on therapy to metformin alone (group A, n = 52) or insulin secretagogues (group B, n = 53) from diagnosis time. RESULTS: Although both groups showed a reduction in BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, HbA1c and triglycerides, only group A showed a significant reduction in FRS (p < 0.001) and VAI (p = 0.012) after 48 months. No significant intergroup difference was found for any parameters at either baseline or 48 months, with the exception of FRS at 48 months, lower in group A (p = 0.002), regardless of duration of disease, improvement in glycemic control and VAI. CONCLUSION: Our data show that during a 48-month follow-up liraglutide was more efficacious in reducing cardiovascular risk than when it was used as add-on therapy to the first-line therapy from diagnosis with metformin and not with insulin secretagogues.