Quantitative And Qualitative Effect Of Dulaglutide In Type 2 Diabetes Patients Under Treatment With Liraglutide

Background: Liraglutide and dulaglutide are long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonists. Dulaglutide is used once a week, while liraglutide once a day. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate dulaglutide’s quantitative and qualitative effect in patients, who used to take liraglutide independently of their glycemic control. Material and Methods: 124 patients in liraglutide treatment were included in the study and switched to dulaglutide. Patients were taking the same medication before study for at least 6 months. The switch to dulaglutide was made on patients with HbA1c < 7% (Group A) and on patients with HbA1c > 7% (Group B). Parameters of glycemic control (HbA1c, Fasting Blood Glucose -FBG) and cardiovascular risk factors were recorded, while treatment satisfaction was evaluated with the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ). Follow-up period was 24±2 weeks. Results: Patients’ age was 57.65±7.43 years. A reduction of HbA1c was noticed on both groups. Group B’s HbA1c was reduced on the 3 and 6 month monitoring compared to the baseline (7.78±0.93 vs. 7.26±1.09 vs. 7.05±0.93, p= 0.001) and so was Group A’s on the same monitoring times (6.52±0.82 vs. 6.33±0.96 vs. 6.05±0.77, p=0.014). Body weight was also reduced on Group B (112.26 ±18.15 vs. 109.76±22.67 vs. 106.86±19.78, p=0.048), while Group A did not show any statistically significant difference (98.39±18.15 vs. 95.54±21.18 vs. 94.76±20.66, p=0.155). No change on blood pressure was noticed on Group A (p= 0.435) and Group B (p= 0.631). Treatment satisfaction was improved as evaluated via DTSQ on both Group A (p = 0.038) and Group B (p= 0.022) with a greater improvement in Group B. Conclusions: Switching patients from liraglutide 1.2mg to dulaglutide 1.5mg leads to a significant reduction of HbA1c even in patients with HbA1c < 7% and to an improvement of the body weight in patients who have not achieved glycemic control. Patients under treatment with dulaglutide are more satisfied with their regimen. Disclosure A. Sotiropoulos: None. A. Koutsovasilis: None. A. Antoniou: None. S. Bousboulas: None. T. Peppas: None.