Exenatide Reduced Heart Failure Risk by 50 Percent in Type 2's

The study used data from the national Medical Quality Improvement Consortium, which includes more than 14,000 health care providers from ambulatory care practices with the GE Healthcare Centricity electronic medical record, according to a press release.  

Researchers identified 778,408 patients with type 2 diabetes receiving exenatide (Byetta), insulin and/or another glucose-lowering therapy between January 2005 and September 2010. Cohort matching was based on age, sex, follow-up time and use of thiazolidinediones. 

There was a 57% reduction in the likelihood for HF among patients assigned to exenatide plus insulin and another therapy vs. patients receiving insulin with another therapy (OR=0.43; 95% CI, 0.35-0.53). Although not statistically significant, the likelihood for HF with exenatide plus other non-insulin therapies was 31% lower compared with other therapies alone (OR=0.69; 95% CI, 0.44-1.07). When analyzing all therapies, exenatide was associated with a 54% reduction in the likelihood of HF compared with patients not receiving exenatide (OR=0.46; 95% CI, 0.38-0.56).

The Exenatide Study of Cardiovascular Event Lowering (EXSCEL) trial was done to determine whether extended-release exenatide injection is associated with improved cardiovascular outcomes vs. standard of care is currently under way. EXSCEL began in 2010 and will include about 9,500 patients. Results are expected by 2016.