Effects of Liraglutide Versus Placebo on Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Chronic Kidney Disease: Results From the LEADER Trial

BACKGROUND: LEADER trial (Liraglutide Effect and Action in Diabetes: Evaluation of CV Outcome Results) results demonstrated cardiovascular benefits for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at high cardiovascular risk on standard of care randomized to liraglutide versus placebo. The effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist liraglutide on cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease is unknown. Liraglutide’s treatment effects in patients with and without kidney disease were analyzed post hoc. METHODS: Patients were randomized (1:1) to liraglutide or placebo, both in addition to standard of care. These analyses assessed outcomes stratified by baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; <60 versus ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) and baseline albuminuria. The primary outcome (composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke) and secondary outcomes, including all-cause mortality and individual components of the primary composite outcome, were analyzed using Cox regression. RESULTS: Overall, 2158 and 7182 patients had baseline eGFR <60 or ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m(2), respectively. In patients with eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2), risk reduction for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome with liraglutide was greater (hazard ratio [HR], 0.69; 95% CI, 0.57–0.85) versus those with eGFR ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83–1.07; interaction P=0.01). There was no consistent effect modification with liraglutide across finer eGFR subgroups (interaction P=0.13) and when analyzing eGFR as a continuous variable (interaction P=0.61). Risk reductions in those with eGFR <60 versus ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) were as follows: for nonfatal myocardial infarction, HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.55–0.99 versus HR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.77–1.13; for nonfatal stroke, HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.33–0.80 versus HR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.84–1.37; for cardiovascular death, HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.50–0.90 versus HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.67–1.05; for all-cause mortality, HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.60–0.92 versus HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.75–1.07. Risk reduction for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome was not different for those with versus without baseline albuminuria (HR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.71–0.97; and HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.79–1.07, respectively; interaction P=0.36). CONCLUSIONS: Liraglutide added to standard of care reduced the risk for major cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease. These results appear to apply across the chronic kidney disease spectrum enrolled. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. Unique identifier: NCT01179048.