No association between DPP-IV inhibitors and heart failure among type 2 diabetes patients, research suggests

There is no apparent association between type 2 diabetes patients who are hospitalised for heart failure and treatment with DPP-IV inhibitors relative to sulphonylureas or Onglyza treatment relative to Januvia, a study finds.
Researchers at Truven Health Analytics, Maryland, United States evaluated patients with type 2 diabetes from the Truven Health MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental databases.
“Heart failure is not uncommon among patients with type 2 diabetes, and the selection of pharmacotherapy can impact that risk,” the researchers wrote.
“It is an important part of current medical practice to monitor all patients with type 2 diabetes for heart failure symptoms, such as shortness of breath and edema.”
In this retrospective study, patients initiated drug treatment between 1 August 2010 and 30 August 2013. Those identified for analysis included patients who took DDP-IV inhibitors Onglyza (saxagliptin) or Januvia (sitagliptin) – which can aid weight loss and decrease blood sugar levels – or sulphonylureas.
The study included 218,556 patients in comparisons of DDP-IV inhibitors with sulphonylureas and 112,888 patients in comparisons of Onglyza and Januvia.
The researchers’ primary outcome was hospitalisation for heart failure during follow-up. Secondary outcomes included hospitalisation for other cardiovascular outcomes, such as stroke, acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina.
Patients who had cardiovascular disease (CVD) prior to the study and were treated with DDP-IV inhibitors did not have statistically significant differences in the amount of times they were hospitalised for heart failure compared to those who took sulphonylureas.
Furthermore, the comparison of saxagliptin and sitagaliptin did not demonstrate a significant difference in hospitalisation for patients with baseline CVD, as well as patients without baseline cardiovascular disease.
The researchers also identified that patients treated with DPP-IV inhibitors had significantly lower hazards of secondary outcomes compared to those treated with sulphonylureas.
The findings were published in the online journal Diabetes Care.