Mechanism of cardiovascular disease benefit of glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists.

Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1)-based therapies reduce hyperglycaemia in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes cardiovascular comorbidity remains prevalent, although current treatments are effective at reducing hyperglycaemia. GLP-1 exerts specific actions on the cardiovascular system in both healthy individuals and patients with cardiovascular pathology, and GLP-1 therapies have improved the cardiovascular profile of diabetic patients. GLP-1 exerts its action by binding to its receptor (GLP-1 receptor) at the cell surface. Mechanistically, it is not clear how GLP-1 therapies exert beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system. It is difficult to arrive at any conclusions on the ability of GLP-1 receptor agonism to reduce cardiovascular disease from animal/human studies because of varying experimental designs. This review highlights recent findings from long-term human GLP-1 therapy studies, and summarizes postulated mechanisms as to how GLP-1 receptor agonism may alleviate cardiovascular disease.