Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists reduced the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with statins.

Background: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) often have hypercholesterolemia, and their serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels are not always well-controlled even by statin treatment. The glucose-lowering glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are reported to change the lipid profiles in T2DM patients, but their effects have been unclear.

Objective: We examined whether GLP-1RAs affect serum cholesterol levels in T2DM patients with/without statin treatment.

Methods: We retrospectively assessed the baseline and follow-up (median 119 days) levels of serum lipids, HbA1c, and body mass index (BMI) in 103 and 214 Japanese patients with T2DM in whom GLP-1RAs were initiated (GLP-1RA group) and not initiated (control group), stratified by the use of statins.

Results: In the GLP-1RA group, the LDL-C, HbA1c, and BMI significantly decreased; high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides did not decrease during follow-up. In the control group, these did not decrease. Among the statin users, the percentage change in LDL-C during follow-up was significantly greater in the GLP-1RA group than that in the control group (-6.5% vs -1.0%, P = .040). In the GLP-1RA group, the percentage reduction in LDL-C was not associated with that in BMI but was associated with that in HbA1c only among the statin users.

Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that GLP-1RAs reduced the serum LDL-C in Japanese patients with T2DM treated with statins. The percentage reduction in LDL-C by GLP-1RAs was associated with that in HbA1c, but not associated with that in BMI. The combination of GLP-1RAs and statins may be a reasonable therapeutic option in T2DM with dyslipidemia.