The main goal of treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is to prevent its long-term chronic complications, especially microvascular and cardiovascular (macrovascular) complications. Pharmacotherapy of T2D has changed significantly over the past decade, mainly due to the market introduction of novel classes of antidiabetic medicines: dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i), glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA), and sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i). The clinical trials based on which these antidiabetic medicines obtained marketing authorisation evaluated short-term (e.g. levels of glycated haemoglobin, HbA1c) rather than long-term clinical outcomes (e.g. incidence of cardiovascular and microvascular complications). Since 2008, however, the US Food and Drug Administration has mandated that cardiovascular safety data be submitted for all novel antidiabetic medicines entering the market, as one of the medicines in the thiazolidinedione group – rosiglitazone – has been shown to increase the risk of myocardial infarction. To this end, many post-marketing clinical trials, known as cardiovascular outcome trials (CVOTs), have been conducted to date with the aim of demonstrating that, compared to placebo, the individual antidiabetic medicine is not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. Although these trials were primarily designed to evaluate the safety aspects of novel antidiabetic medicines, some have even shown a beneficial effect of medicines from the SGLT2i and GLP-1RA drug classes in reducing the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Medicines from the SGLT2i drug class also reduced the risk of hospitalisation due to heart failure. However, these studies included patients with established cardiovascular disease and patients with cardiovascular risk factors who had not yet developed cardiovascular disease. Therefore, the results of the studies can only be generalised to a small proportion of patients with T2D in routine clinical practice. The effect of antidiabetic medicines on the risk of both cardiovascular and microvascular complications in patients with T2D in routine clinical practice could be assessed most rapidly and effectively with observational studies.
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