Cardiovascular effects of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors.

Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors are effective glucose-lowering agents that do not increase body weight and are associated with a low risk for hypoglycemia. Also, they appear to exert beneficial effects on other established cardiovascular risk factors, including dyslipidemia and hypertension. Moreover, DPP-4 inhibitors exert antiinflammatory and antioxidant actions, improve endothelial function and reduce urinary albumin excretion. In contrast to these favorable cardiovascular effects, three recent large, randomized, placebo-controlled trials in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and established cardiovascular disease or multiple cardiovascular risk factors showed that DPP-4 inhibitors do not affect the risk of myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke and might increase the risk of heart failure. The findings of the former randomized studies highlight the limitations of surrogate markers and show that beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors do not necessarily translate into reductions in hard clinical endpoints. Ongoing trials will shed more light on the safety profile of DPP-4 inhibitors and will clarify whether they will improve the cardiovascular outcomes of patients with T2DM. Hippokratia 2015; 19 (3): 195-199.