The new oral hypoglycaemic drugs saxagliptin and alogliptin do not reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in the short term, according to two studies published this week.
An analysis published earlier this year suggested that DPP-4 inhibitors – which effectively lower blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes - could also lower cardiovascular risk.
But these latest studies - published in the New England Journal of Medicine and set up to study the CV safety of the drugs after the rosiglitazone controversy– suggest this might not be the case.
Neither the saxagliptin trial or the alogliptin trial showed that the drugs decrease patients’ risk of heart attack, stroke, or death, but nor did they increase it in comparison with placebo.
