Spotlight on Antidiabetic Agents with Cardiovascular or Renoprotective Benefits.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus often goes hand in hand with cardiovascular and renal comorbidities. Stroke, myocardial infarction, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease are high-risk complications of type 2 diabetes that contribute to morbidity and mortality. Recent clinical trials have uncovered evidence that certain antidiabetic agents may confer cardiovascular and/or renal benefits such as reduced cardiovascular and all-cause mortality and reduced need for renal replacement therapy. Two landmark trials in particular, EMPA-REG OUTCOME (Empagliflozin, Cardiovascular Outcomes, and Mortality in Type 2 Diabetes) and LEADER (Liraglutide Effect and Action in Diabetes: Evaluation of Cardiovascular Outcome Results), demonstrated the cardioprotective and/or renoprotective effects of empagliflozin and liraglutide, respectively. These trials led to new US Food and Drug Administration indications for empagliflozin and liraglutide as risk reduction for major cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease. Other trials are under way to determine whether these benefits are class effects and what other agents may have a role in risk reduction for cardiovascular and renal disease. This review will summarize the evidence for noninsulin antidiabetic drugs with benefits beyond glycemic control, discuss proposed mechanisms for these effects, and consider their place in therapy.