The Effect of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) Receptor Agonists on the Lipid Profile of Diabetic Patients Using Statins: A Retrospective Cohort Study in the Diabetic Center of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Hospital, Saudi Arabia

Background Dyslipidemia is a common complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries, including Saudi Arabia. Injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) are recent therapies found to be effective in treating dyslipidemia in diabetic patients by acting similarly to the body's internal glucagon peptide hormone, regulating blood sugar levels and reducing triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels. Aim of the study This retrospective cohort study aimed to investigate the effect of GLP-1RA on the lipid profile of dyslipidemia diabetic patients who were not controlled using statins. Methods Data were collected from the medical records of male and female diabetic patients with dyslipidemia (uncontrolled by statins) who were administered to the diabetic center of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and received GLP-1RA (dulaglutide) from June 2023 to August 2023. The primary endpoint was the change in triglycerides and LDL-C levels after three months of using dulaglutide, and the secondary endpoints included the change in body weight, BMI, and HbA1c%. Descriptive analysis was conducted to present numerical and categorical data. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare numerical data before and after using dulaglutide. Ethical considerations were taken into account by ensuring anonymous data collection and obtaining IRB approval before data collection. Results The study included 102 patients with a median (interquartile range (IQR)) age of 59 (14) years. Females constituted 55.2% of the population. Obesity (96.1%), hypertension (71.6%), and retinopathy (13.7%) were the most commonly reported comorbidities. The study showed a significant reduction in body weight, BMI, HbA1c, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), serum LDL-C, and triglyceride concentrations after three months of using dulaglutide (p<0.001). Conclusion Our study results confirm the positive effect of the GLP-1RA (dulaglutide) on the lipid profile of diabetic patients with dyslipidemia uncontrolled by statins.