• Tadarro L Richardson, Alese E Halvorson, Amber J Hackstadt, Adriana M Hung, Robert Greevy, Carlos G Grijalva, Tom A Elasy, and Christianne L Roumie.
• VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System Geriatric Research Education Clinical Center (GRECC); Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee (T.L.R., A.M.H., T.A.E.).
• Ann. Intern. Med. 2023 Jun 1; 176 (6): 751760751-760.

BackgroundThe effectiveness of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1RA) and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in preventing major adverse cardiac events (MACE) is uncertain for those without preexisting cardiovascular disease.ObjectiveTo test the hypothesis that MACE incidence was lower with the addition of GLP1RA or SGLT2i compared with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4i) for primary cardiovascular prevention.DesignRetrospective cohort study of U.S. veterans from 2001 to 2019.SettingVeterans aged 18 years or older receiving care from the Veterans Health Administration, with data linkage to Medicare, Medicaid, and the National Death Index.PatientsVeterans adding GLP1RA, SGLT2i, or DPP4i onto metformin, sulfonylurea, or insulin treatment alone or in combination. Episodes were stratified by history of cardiovascular disease.MeasurementsStudy outcomes were MACE (acute myocardial infarction, stroke, or cardiovascular death) and heart failure (HF) hospitalization. Cox models compared the outcome between medication groups using pairwise comparisons in a weighted cohort adjusted for covariates.ResultsThe cohort included 28 759 GLP1RA versus 28 628 DPP4i weighted pairs and 21 200 SGLT2i versus 21 170 DPP4i weighted pairs. Median age was 67 years, and diabetes duration was 8.5 years. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists were associated with lower MACE and HF versus DPP4i (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.82 [95% CI, 0.72 to 0.94]), yielding an adjusted risk difference (aRD) of 3.2 events (CI, 1.1 to 5.0) per 1000 person-years. Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors were not associated with MACE and HF (aHR, 0.91 [CI, 0.78 to 1.08]; aRD, 1.28 [-1.12 to 3.32]) compared with DPP4i.LimitationResidual confounding; use of DPP4i, GLP1RA, and SGLT2i as first-line therapies were not examined.ConclusionThe addition of GLP1RA was associated with primary reductions of MACE and HF hospitalization compared with DPP4i use; SGLT2i addition was not associated with primary MACE prevention.Primary Funding SourceVA Clinical Science Research and Development and supported in part by the Centers for Diabetes Translation Research.

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