Association of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists Versus Other Antidiabetic Medications With Cardiovascular, Renal, and Liver Outcomes in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
- Design
- Retrospective cohort · 391 participants · Hard outcome
- Match to healthy normal-weight adults aged 55–75
- Different population[Auto] Participants had type 2 diabetes (age/BMI not reported in abstract).
- Could weight loss explain it?
- Possibly[Auto] Participants had obesity and/or type 2 diabetes and the abstract does not separate direct drug effects from weight loss or glycaemic improvement.
- Study tier
- Study tier 3[Auto] Observational design; confounding by indication and healthy-user effects cannot be excluded (auto-provisional).
- Assessment
- Version 1 · automatic, not yet reviewed by a person · Sep 13, 2026
Study facts come from the paper. Population match, weight-loss explanation and study tier are our judgments, made against the reference group of healthy normal-weight adults aged 55–75.
[Auto, unreviewed; quoted from abstract conclusions] GLP-1 RAs were associated with favourable cardio-renal-metabolic outcomes compared with several second-line glucose-lowering agents, particularly insulins and sulfonylureas. These findings add to the real-world evidence supporting the potential cardiovascular, renal, and hepatic benefits of GLP-1 RAs in patients with T2DM.
01Findings
What the study reported
- Drugs
- Class unspecified
- Comparator
- GLP-1 RAs
- Primary outcome
- Not extracted
- Effect
- Not extracted
- 95% confidence interval
- Not extracted
- Follow-up
- Not stated
- Adverse events
- Not extracted
- Limitations
- Auto-classified from abstract only; effect estimates, adverse events and limitations not extracted. Requires manual review.
Who was studied
- Diabetes status
- type 2 diabetes present (all or most)
- Sample size
- 391
Study quality details
- Study design
- Retrospective cohort
- Sample size
- 391
- Randomization
- no
- Blinding
- not stated
- Comparator
- not stated
- Follow up duration
- not stated
- Outcome type
- hard
- Replication
- not assessed (auto)
- Consistency with other evidence
- not assessed (auto)
- Population applicability
- INDIRECT
- Statistical precision
- CI reported: 95% CI 1
- Risk of bias
- not assessed (auto)
- Funding conflicts
- unclear
- Peer review status
- yes
02Funding
Funding and conflicts
- Funding
- not reported in abstract
- Industry funded
- Unclear
- Manufacturer
- None identified
- Sponsor role
- not reported in abstract
- Author conflicts
- not available in metadata
- Independent replication
- unknown
Funding is shown on every study and never used to score it.
04Source
The source, as retrieved
Abstract
[AIMS] To compare cardiovascular, kidney, and liver outcomes of Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) versus seven other antidiabetic medications (ADMs) in Chinese patients with Type 2 diabetes. [MATERIALS AND METHODS] This retrospective cohort study (2018-2024) used an Eastern China regional healthcare database. We included patients initiating GLP-1 RAs, sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2 inhibitors), dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4 inhibitors), insulins, sulfonylureas, α-glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs), thiazolidinediones, or meglitinides. Outcomes were major adverse cardiovascular (MACE), kidney (MAKE), and liver (MALO) events. A propensity score-based matching weights (MWs) approach was used to balance covariates including demographics, comorbidities, and medication use, and Cox proportional hazards models were conducted in both intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses. [RESULTS] Among 105 391 patients, SGLT-2 inhibitors (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.10-1.30), insulins (HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.32-1.52), sulfonylureas (HR 1.30, 95% CI 1.18-1.43), and AGIs (HR 1.45, 95% CI 1.31-1.59) were associated with higher MACE risk compared with GLP-1 RAs. DPP-4 inhibitors (HR 3.09, 95% CI 1.69-5.63), insulins (HR 6.11, 95% CI 4.37-8.54), and meglitinides (HR 4.56, 95% CI 2.32-8.97) were associated with higher MAKE risk. Higher MALO risk was observed with DPP-4 inhibitors (HR 1.48, 95% CI 1.21-1.79), insulins (HR 2.06, 95% CI 1.81-2.34), AGIs (HR 1.55, 95% CI 1.26-1.90), and meglitinides (HR 1.43, 95% CI 1.07-1.92). [CONCLUSIONS] GLP-1 RAs were associated with favourable cardio-renal-metabolic outcomes compared with several second-line glucose-lowering agents, particularly insulins and sulfonylureas. These findings add to the real-world evidence supporting the potential cardiovascular, renal, and hepatic benefits of GLP-1 RAs in patients with T2DM.