GLP-1 receptor agonists and reduction of cardiometabolic risk: Potential underlying mechanisms

2018

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic condition with an elevated impact on cardiovascular (CV) risk. The innovative therapeutic approaches for T2DM - incretin-based therapies (IBTs), including glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, have become popular and more widely used in recent years. The available scientific data from clinical studies and clinical practice highlights their beyond glucose-lowering effects, which is achieved without any increase in hypoglycaemia. The former effects include reduction in body weight, lipids, blood pressure, inflammatory markers, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, and subclinical atherosclerosis, thus reducing and potentially pr…