New Therapeutic Strategies for Type 2 Diabetes CME.

Pharmacological options for treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D) have advanced rapidly during the last 10 years, allowing clinicians to target different pathophysiological defects in this disease. There are currently 12 different classes of drugs available to treat T2D. The most exciting development is the demonstration of cardiovascular (CV) benefits from two of these new classes, the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) and selective sodium glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. These drugs have challenged conventional algorithms in the management of T2D by exceeding expectations in cardiovascular outcome trials and demonstrating an unexpected reduction in CV events. This review focuses on the physiologic actions and the CV outcomes associated with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, GLP-1 RA, and SGLT2 inhibitor use. Understanding their potential may revolutionize our approach to the management of T2D.