Efficacy of linagliptin on cardiovascular risk and cardiometabolic parameters in Thai patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A real-world observational study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There is no published data on linagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, on its cardiovascular risk reduction in Thai population. This study, therefore, aimed to investigate the effect of linagliptin on cardiovascular risk reduction in Thai patients with diabetes mellitus.

METHODS: Patient profiles of all patients treated with linagliptin in a hospital in Thailand were reviewed. Patients who had used linagliptin for at least 12 months were recruited for analysis. Their cardiovascular risk scores were calculated using the Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator Plus tool and were compared between pre-treatment and 12-month post-treatment of linagliptin.

RESULTS: There were a total of 73 patients recruited for analysis. At 12 months of treatment, the results indicated no significant reduction in the cardiovascular risk score of all patients compared to pre-treatment (25.67% vs. 23.37%, p-value 0.442). The atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk reduction with linagliptin was significantly higher in patients with high baseline atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk and in the elderly population. A significant reduction in patients with ≥20% baseline cardiovascular risk score (6.36% decrease, p-value 0.017) was observed. Significant decreases in fasting blood sugar, haemoglobin A1c, and triglyceride were observed, but not in total and LDL-cholesterol levels. Additionally, HDL-cholesterol was significantly increased.

CONCLUSIONS: The mean cardiovascular risk score of all patients was not significantly changed with 12-month linagliptin treatment. However, linagliptin could significantly reduce the 10-year cardiovascular risk score in patients with ≥20% baseline risk. Also, patients with advanced age gained more benefit from linagliptin treatment. A limitation of this study was the drugs which might affect cardiovascular risk were not collected at 12-month post-treatment.