Diabetes Drug Victoza Might Not Help Advanced Heart Failure Patients

Study participants may have been too sick to benefit from the medication, diabetes expert says

The theory for this trial was that this drug -- from a class of medications called (GLP-1) agonists -- might interact with the heart's GLP-1 receptors on cells and thereby improve heart function.

"We were hoping for a benefit; we didn't see that. It's at best neutral," said lead researcher Dr. Kenneth Margulies. He's a professor of medicine and research director of heart failure and transplantation at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Previous studies found evidence that people with advanced heart failure have insulin resistance of their peripheral muscles and heart muscle, and "this was felt to be a detrimental feature that this type of diabetes medicine might help," he said.

Not only did the drug not help, but it's possible that Victoza might have even been slightly harmful in some patients with advanced heart failure, Margulies said. The study noted that people with type 2 diabetes who were taking Victoza had a slightly higher, though nonsignificant, risk of death and rehospitalization, as well as signs of worsening kidney function.

But, patients using Victoza who develop heart failure shouldn't abruptly stop taking it, he added.

One expert noted that this trial contradicts the findings of another study that found that Victoza lowered the risk of dying from heart disease.

"I suspect that [this] trial is not the final word on the issue," said Dr. John Buse. He's the chief and professor of the division of endocrinology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill.

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