This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Liraglutide improved oxidative stress, ghrelin, heme oxygenase-1 levels in type 2 diabetes
In patients with type 2 diabetes, the addition of liraglutide to a metformin regimen appears to have a positive effect on oxidative stress, plasma ghrelin and heme oxygenase-1 levels, according to recent findings.
In the prospective pilot study, researchers evaluated 20 adults (10 men; mean age, 57 years) with type 2 diabetes who were assigned metformin in doses ranging from 1,500 mg and 2,000 mg per day. Participants had never been treated with incretin-based therapies.
Participants had a mean HbA1c level of 8.5%. None of the participants had known diabetes complications or cardiovascular disease. The researchers took anthropometric measurements of all participants, including waist circumference, height and weight, and calculated BMI.
The study participants underwent a regimen of subcutaneous liraglutide (Victoza, Novo Nordisk) at 0.6 mg/daily for 2 weeks, followed by 1.2 mg/daily combined with 1,500 mg/daily oral metformin.
Participants continued this regimen for 2 months and fasting blood samples were taken at baseline and after 2 months. The samples were tested for markers of oxidative stress, as well as for plasma ghrelin concentrations and heat shock proteins, including heme oxygenase-1.
The researchers found that the addition of liraglutide to metformin regimen yielded a significant reduction in HbA1c from 8.5% to 7.5% (P=.0001), and increases were seen in plasma ghrelin concentrations from 8.2 pg/mL to 13.6 pg/mL (P=.0007) and glutathione concentrations from 0.36 nmol/mL to 0.44 nmol/mL (P=.0002).
Reductions were seen in serum lipid hydroperoxides from 0.11 pg/mL to 0.07 pg/mL (P=.0487) and heme oxygenase-1 from 7.7 pg/mL to 3.6 pg/mL (P=.0445).
These effects were not associated with fluctuations in fasting glycemia or HbA1c.
“In conclusion, we report novel metabolic effects of liraglutide in patients with [type 2 diabetes],” the researchers wrote. “Our study is the first to examine the effects of liraglutide on ghrelin, oxidative stress and [heme oxygenase-1] and [heat shock protein 60] in patients with [type 2 diabetes]. The improvement in these parameters independent of glycemic control could contribute to [the reduction of] cardiovascular risk in this patient population.”
Disclosure: Rizzo has given talks, attended conferences and participated in advisory boards and trials sponsored by Novo Nordisk. Some of the other researchers report being on the speakers’ bureau for AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck.