Safety and efficacy of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists on cardiovascular events in overweight or obese non-diabetic patients

Background: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have shown variable cardiovascular (CV) outcomes in overweight or obese patients without diabetes mellitus (DM) who are treated with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) vs. placebo. We conducted a meta-analysis of the available studies. Methods: Online databases were searched for RCTs comparing GLP-1 RA to placebo in overweight or obese non-diabetic patients. The clinical endpoints of interest were major adverse CV events (MACE), CV death, all cause death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, revascularization, total adverse events and their subtypes. Pooled odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model. Results: A total of 10 RCTs with 29,325 patients (n = 16,900 GLP-1 RA, n = 12,425 placebo) were included. The mean age was 48 years and 34 % of patients were men. As compared with placebo, the GLP-1 RA group was associated with significant reduction of MACE (OR 0.79, 95 % CI 0.71-0.89, p < 0.0001), all cause death (OR 0.80, 95 % CI 0.70-0.92, p = 0.002), MI (OR 0.72, 95 % CI 0.61–0.85, p = 0.0001) and revascularization (OR 0.76, 95 % CI 0.67–0.86, p < 0.0001), without any differences in CV death or stroke. Total adverse events, gastrointestinal and gallbladder-related disorders were higher in the GLP-1 RA group, with a similar rate of renal adverse events, malignant neoplasms and acute pancreatitis to placebo. Conclusion: In overweight or obese patients without DM, patients treated with GLP-1 RAs had significantly reduced MACE, all cause death, MI and revascularization when compared with placebo.