Diabetes therapy with GLP-1-based drugs does not elevate the risk of IBD

No increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was associated with type-2 diabetes treatment with glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1)-based therapies. Compared with the different glucose-lowering medications, disparities in the established hazard ratios were not significant.

Data on the potential risk of IBD in association with GLP-1-based therapies compared with other glucose-lowering agents is still lacking [1]. Dr Heidi Søgaard Christensen (Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark) presented a study that tried to fill the gap of knowledge by using data from the Danish patient, prescription, and civil registration registries between 2007 and 2018.

The cohort included 177,950 patients who received a new prescription of glucose-lowering medications. The median follow-up was 4.8 years and the median age of the adult patients at the start of the study was 63 years. Dr Søgaard Christensen and colleagues identified 412 cases of incident IBD. Overall, treatment with 1 of the GLP-1-based therapies did not show an increased risk of developing IBD with a statistically non-significant hazard ratio (HR) of 0.96 (95% CI 0.72–1.27) in comparison with other diabetes drugs. Distinguishing between GLP-1 receptor agonists and DPP4-inhibitors also did not reveal significantly different IBD risks: HR 1.30 (95% CI 0.86–1.96) and HR 0.84 (95% CI 0.59–1.19), respectively.

Dr Christensen recapped that, overall, no evidence of a risk of IBD following the use of GLP-1-based therapy was detected. “But, we think that the influence of GLP-1 receptor agonists may need further investigation to completely rule out a negative association,” she concluded.

1. Christensen HS. GLP-1 based therapies and risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: real world evidence from a nationwide cohort study. DOP57, ECCO 2023, 01–04 March, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Posted on 4 May 20238 April 2024