GLP-1s associated with increased risk of GERD
Patients with type 2 diabetes who started a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist had a 27% higher risk of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) than those who took a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor, a retrospective study found.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists are associated with higher risk of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) than sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors, a recent study found.
The study used the U.K. Clinical Practice Research Datalink to compare rates of GERD among adults with type 2 diabetes who initiated GLP-1 receptor agonists (n=24,708) or SGLT-2 inhibitors (n=89,096) in 2013 to 2021. Over a median follow-up of 3.0 years, the risk ratio (RR) for incident GERD was 1.27 (95% CI, 1.14 to 1.42) with a GLP-1 receptor agonist compared to an SGLT-2 inhibitor, with a three-year risk difference of 0.7 per 1,000 patients. On the secondary outcome of GERD complications, the RR was 1.55 (95% CI, 1.12 to 2.29) and the risk difference was 0.8 per 1,000 patients. The study was published by Annals of Internal Medicine on July 15.
Limitations of the study include the risk of residual confounding due to lack of information on dietary or lifestyle factors, but the study authors concluded that the results suggest a higher risk for GERD and its complications in patients taking GLP-1 receptor agonists for diabetes, “which is biologically plausible,” they wrote. “These potential risks should be weighed against the established clinical benefits of this drug class, particularly in patients at high risk for gastroparesis and GERD.”