Westover 1

Pamela Westover
Evelyn Galvez
Biology I Lab
July 11, 2015
Effect of the glucagon-like peptide-1 analogue liraglutide on coronary microvascular function in
patients with type 2 diabetes.
This article is part of a study on patients who have a diabetes type 2 along with some
cardiovascular issues. Old studies are showing the beneficial effects of glucagon-like peptide1(GLP-1) on the cardiovascular system. The most important part of this study is demonstrated
with patients that have diabetes type 2 and it shows that they may have a great option using the
glucagon-like peptide-1 as a treatment. The short-term effect of GLP-1 treatment on coronary
microcirculation in patients with diabetes type 2 can reduce many side-effects on them as shown
in the following study. Many patients with type 2 diabetes normally suffered from both macroand microvascular disease and they are an important part of mortality. This happens when the
blood flows in the large coronary vessels and does not increase sufficiently to meet the oxygens
demands; with this information a group of scientist tried the GLP-1 in different patients leaving
them to complete their treatment on their own. These scientists were trying to discover how
many side-effects this treatment might have and how many benefits they contribute to these
types of patients. The expected results were basically a better vasodilatation on their heart rate by
the influence of GLP-1. They took two different sequences of patients; one group with a higher
risk of microvascular dysfunction and a second group with diabetes type 2 without any
microvascular dysfunctions. The first group with a higher risk of microvascular dysfunction had

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24 patients who received the GLP-1 for 10 weeks. The first 2 weeks they received a smaller
dose of 0.6 mgs GLP-1 daily in order to prevent gastrointestinal side-effects. After those two
weeks they increased the dose to 1.2 mgs and the patients didnt show any gastrointestinal side
effects. After these first excellent results the scientists prepared the patients for a Doppler flow
echocardiography examine which would show the progress of these patients on their heart rate
and fluid of the level of glucose in their blood. The result of these exams expressed basically a
small increase in CFR following the liraglutide treatment, but no differences in effect in
comparison with no treatment. The only big finding that they found through this experiment was
that the liraglutide significantly reduced glycated hemoglobin, systolic blood pressure, and
weight compared to those that had no treatment. However there was no effect on peripheral
microvascular functions after either intervention. The conclusion of this experiment through a
short-term study after 10 weeks of treatment was that the patients had no significant effect on
neither coronary nor peripheral microvascular functions in patients with type 2 diabetes. Other
long term studies, preferably in patients with more impaired microvascular functions and using a
higher level of GLP-1, have to be tested and confirmed in the future to know the long term
impacts. One of the things that can be a factor in these studies is that patients under these
treatments can suffer a higher level of stress since some of them have never been exposed to any
type of insulin. This study definitely helps the possibility of discovering a cure for patients with
diabetes type 2. The GLP-1 is one of the advances that the scientists are trying to figure out in
these patients who have been missing the right medicines for the illness. The data didnt show a
huge advance in a short-term treatment for these patients but we dont really know the sideeffects of the glucagon-like peptide-1 in a long-term use, so there is still little known for the
future of this medicine.

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Works cited
Biomed Central. Website http/creativecommons.org/license/by/4.0. Web 20 jun. 2015
Cardiovascular Diabetology. 2015, vol 14 Issue 1, p1-11. 11p. 1 color photograph, 2 diagrams, 3
charts. Web 20 jun. 2015.