Liraglutide Reduces Cardiac Adipose Tissue in Type 2 Diabetes: A secondary analysis of the LIRAFLAME Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Abstract

BACKGROUND\nIncreased cardiac adipose tissue is associated with cardiovascular morbidity in type 2 diabetes. We hypothesized that treatment with liraglutide can reduce cardiac adipose tissue.\n\n\nMATERIALS AND METHODS\nLIRAFLAME is a randomized placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel clinical study. Participants with type 2 diabetes were randomized to treatment with liraglutide 1.8\xa0mg/day or placebo for 26\u2009weeks. Computed tomography was performed at baseline and end-of-treatment to evaluate the cardiac adipose tissue volume, quantified automatically. We report the results of a secondary endpoint evaluating changes in cardiac adipose tissue.\n\n\nRESULTS\nA total of 102 participants were randomly assigned to liraglutide (n\xa0=\xa051) or placebo (n\xa0=\xa051). At baseline, the mean (SD) cardiac adipose tissue volume was comparable between the liraglutide and the placebo group [232.6 (112.8) vs 227.0 (103.2) ml, p\xa0=\xa00.80]. Mean change in body weight was -3.7 (-4.8, -2.6) kg in the liraglutide and\xa0-\xa00.18 (-0.76, 0.40) kg in the placebo group. From baseline to end-of-treatment the mean cardiac adipose tissue change was -11.5 (95% CI: -17.6, -5.4) ml in the liraglutide (p\xa0<\u20090.001) and\xa0-\xa00.01 (-5.3, 5.3) ml in the placebo (p\xa0=\xa01.00) groups. The reduction in cardiac adipose tissue was significantly larger in the liraglutide compared to the placebo group (mean difference: -11.4 [-19.4, -3.3] ml, p\xa0=\xa00.006), but significance was lost after adjustment for changes in body mass index (P\xa0=\xa00.46).\n\n\nCONCLUSION\nTreatment with liraglutide for 26\u2009weeks was associated with a reduction in cardiac adipose tissue compared to placebo. The reduction was not independent of weight-loss, suggesting that this is not a drug-specific effect. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.