Which GLP-1 receptor agonist lowers risk of recurrent cardiovascular events?

Which GLP-1 receptor agonist lowers risk of recurrent cardiovascular events?

• A. Liraglutide
• B. Exenatide
• C. Dulaglutide
• D. Semaglutide

Answer: (A)

Liraglutide has the strongest evidence showing it can reduce recurrent cardiovascular events in people with type 2 diabetes and high cardiovascular risk. This comes from the LEADER trial, which randomized high-risk patients to liraglutide or placebo and found a significant drop in major adverse cardiovascular events, including components like cardiovascular death, beyond what would be expected from glucose lowering alone. The benefit observed in LEADER supports a real cardiovascular risk reduction, particularly relevant for patients with prior cardiovascular disease or high risk. Other GLP-1 receptor agonists have CV outcome data with mixed results—one agent showed neutral results in its major trial, another demonstrated benefit in a broader population that wasn’t limited to recurrent events, and a third showed benefit in high-risk patients—yet the most robust and established reduction in recurrent cardiovascular events in a population with established or high risk CVD is tied to liraglutide.

Liraglutide has the strongest evidence showing it can reduce recurrent cardiovascular events in people with type 2 diabetes and high cardiovascular risk. This comes from the LEADER trial, which randomized high-risk patients to liraglutide or placebo and found a significant drop in major adverse cardiovascular events, including components like cardiovascular death, beyond what would be expected from glucose lowering alone. The benefit observed in LEADER supports a real cardiovascular risk reduction, particularly relevant for patients with prior cardiovascular disease or high risk.

Other GLP-1 receptor agonists have CV outcome data with mixed results—one agent showed neutral results in its major trial, another demonstrated benefit in a broader population that wasn’t limited to recurrent events, and a third showed benefit in high-risk patients—yet the most robust and established reduction in recurrent cardiovascular events in a population with established or high risk CVD is tied to liraglutide.