GLP-1 receptor agonists and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

A longitudinal cohort study was undertaken to compare the risk of cardiopulmonary outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 receptor agonists) (1):

• registry study in Taiwan (8,060 matched GLP-1 receptor agonists (RA) users and non-users with COPD and type 2 diabetes) found those on GLP-1 RA had a lower risk of mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 0.46, 95%CI 0.38-0.56), cardiovascular events (0.73, 0.65-0.82), and bacterial pneumonia (0.76, 0.65-0.80

Study authors concluded:

• study showed that GLP-1 RAs had a lower risk of cardiopulmonary outcomes and all-cause mortality than non-GLP1 RAs in patients with T2D and COPD
  • GLP-1 RAs may help manage diabetes in people with COPD

Reference:

1. Yen FS, Hsu CC, Wei JC, Tsai FJ, Huang Y, Yu TS, Hwu CM. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists may benefit cardiopulmonary outcomes in patients with COPD. Thorax. 2024 Oct 1:thorax-2023-221040. doi: 10.1136/thorax-2023-221040.