A meta-analysis evaluating indirectly GLP-1 receptor agonists and arrhythmias in patients with type 2 diabetes and myocardial infarction

Aims

At present, the effects of Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) on arrhythmia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and myocardial infarction (MI) are still unclear. Hence, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate this association.

Methods and results

PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched from inception to 30 April 2022. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared GLP-1RAs with placebo and met the critical criterion of a proportion of patients with T2DM and MI > 30% were included to verify our purpose indirectly. The outcomes of interest included atrial arrhythmias, ventricular arrhythmias, atrioventricular block (AVB), sinus arrhythmia, and cardiac arrest. Relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were pooled using a random-effects model. We included five RCTs with altogether 31,314 patients. In these trials, the highest proportion of patients with T2DM and MI was 82.6%, while the lowest was 30.7%. Compared to placebo, GLP-1RAs were associated with a lower risk of atrial arrhythmias (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.70-0.95). There was no significant difference in the risk of ventricular arrhythmias (RR 1.26, 95% CI 0.87-1.80), AVB (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.63-1.42), sinus arrhythmia (RR 0.62, 95% CI 0.26-1.49), and cardiac arrest (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.52-1.83) between groups.

Conclusion

GLP-1RAs may be associated with reduced risk for atrial arrhythmias, which seems more significant for patients with T2DM combined with MI. More studies are needed to clarify the definitive anti-arrhythmic role of this drug.

Effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists on arrhythmias and its subtypes in patients with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

An update of a systematic review and meta-analysis of the risk of arrhythmias and their subtypes in type 2 diabetic patients receiving glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) medication according to data from the Cardiovascular Outcome Trial(CVOT).

METHODS

Randomized controlled trials (RCT) on GLP-1RA therapy and cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients published in full-text journal databases such as MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, Clinical Trials.gov, and the Cochrane Library from establishment to March 1, 2022 were searched. We assessed the quality of individual studies by the Cochrane risk-of-bias algorithm. RevMan 5.4.1 software was use for calculating meta-analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 60,081 randomized participants were included in the data of these 8 GLP-1RA cardiovascular outcomes trials. Pooled analysis reported no significant effect on total arrhythmia [RR=0.96, 95% CI (0.96, 1.05), p =0.36], and its subtypes such as atrial fibrillation [RR=0.96, 95% CI (0.86, 1.07), p =0.43], atrial flutter [RR= 0.82, 95% CI (0.57, 1.19), p =0.30], atrial tachycardia [RR=0.64, 95% CI (0.20, 2.01), p =0.44)], sinoatrial node dysfunction [RR=0.74, 95% CI (0.44, 1.25), p =0.26], ventricular preterm systole [RR=1.42, 95% CI (0.62, 3.26), p =0.41], second degree AV block [RR=0.96, 95% CI (0.53, 1.72), p =0.88], complete AV block [RR=0.75, 95% CI (0.49, 1.17), p =0.21], ventricular fibrillation [RR=1.00, 95% CI (0.50, 2.02), p =1.00], ventricular tachycardia [RR=1.37, 95% CI (0.91, 2.08), p =0.13] from treatment with GLP-1RA versus placebo. However, the risk of hypoglycemia was reduced by about 30% [RR=0.70, 95% CI (0.57, 0.87), p=0.001] and the risk of pneumonia by about 25% [RR=0.85, 95% CI (0.75, 0.97), p=0.01], both statistically significant differences.

CONCLUSION

In type 2 diabetic patients, treatment with GLP-1RA has no significant effect on the risk of major arrhythmias but significantly reduces the risk of hypoglycemia and pneumonia.