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GLP-1 receptor agonists in cardiometabolic disease: a meta-analysis of 102,486 patients

Zena Adel Alwaily Obaid ur Rahman Aung Thet Swe Aya Abouayana Navdeep Singh Sodhi Mei-Jia Goh Adeel Ahmed Tharun Adithya Natesan Shahzaib Shahzad O. Merchant Y. Khan M. Farooq Maryam Shahzad G. Volucke

Sep 2026 · Archives of Medical Science - Atherosclerotic Diseases · 0 citations · 58 references

Abstract

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) may provide cardiovascular benefits beyond glycaemic control. This meta-analysis evaluated their effects on cardiovascular and related clinical outcomes. PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched up to March 20, 2026, for randomized controlled trials comparing GLP-1 RAs with placebo in adults with or without type 2 diabetes. Outcomes included mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure hospitalization (HHF), acute kidney injury (AKI), pancreatitis, and infections. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted using RevMan 5.4.1. Twenty-eight randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 52,527 GLP-1 RA recipients and 49,959 placebo recipients were included. GLP-1 RAs were associated with significant reductions in all-cause mortality (RR = 0.86), cardiovascular mortality (RR = 0.86), MACE (RR = 0.87), myocardial infarction (RR = 0.86), stroke (RR = 0.88), and infections (RR = 0.90). No significant effects were observed on AKI, pancreatitis, or HHF. GLP-1 RAs were associated with lower risks of cardiovascular outcomes and mortality.

DOI Semantic Scholar

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