The Effect of Liraglutide on Epicardial Adipose Tissue in Type 2 Diabetes

Objective. To study the effect of liraglutide on the thickness of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with abdominal obesity. Methods. Abdominal obesity T2DM patients with poor glycemic control were collected and treated with liraglutide. The changes of blood glucose, blood lipid, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), and EAT thickness were compared after 3 months of treatment with liraglutide. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to measure EAT thickness. Results. After 3 months of treatment with liraglutide, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) decreased from <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"> <a:mn>9.81</a:mn> <a:mo>±</a:mo> <a:mn>1.46</a:mn> </a:math> % to <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"> <c:mn>6.94</c:mn> <c:mo>±</c:mo> <c:mn>1.29</c:mn> </c:math> % ( <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"> <e:mn>95</e:mn> <e:mi>%</e:mi> <e:mtext>CI</e:mtext> <e:mo>=</e:mo> <e:mn>2.14</e:mn> <e:mo>–</e:mo> <e:mn>3.59</e:mn> </e:math> , <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"> <g:mi>p</g:mi> <g:mo><</g:mo> <g:mn>0.001</g:mn> </g:math> ). The weight decreased from <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"> <i:mn>91.67</i:mn> <i:mo>±</i:mo> <i:mn>16.29</i:mn> </i:math> kg to <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6"> <k:mn>87.29</k:mn> <k:mo>±</k:mo> <k:mn>16.43</k:mn> </k:math> kg ( <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M7"> <m:mn>95</m:mn> <m:mi>%</m:mi> <m:mtext>CI</m:mtext> <m:mo>=</m:mo> <m:mn>2.97</m:mn> <m:mo>–</m:mo> <m:mn>5.79</m:mn> </m:math> , <o:math xmlns:o="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8"> <o:mi>p</o:mi> <o:mo><</o:mo> <o:mn>0.001</o:mn> </o:math> ). Waist circumference before treatment was <q:math xmlns:q="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M9"> <q:mn>103.69</q:mn> <q:mo>±</q:mo> <q:mn>9.14</q:mn> </q:math> cm, and after treatment was <s:math xmlns:s="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M10"> <s:mn>96.42</s:mn> <s:mo>±</s:mo> <s:mn>8.42</s:mn> </s:math> cm ( <u:math xmlns:u="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M11"> <u:mn>95</u:mn> <u:mi>%</u:mi> <u:mtext>CI</u:mtext> <u:mo>=</u:mo> <u:mn>5.04</u:mn> <u:mo>–</u:mo> <u:mn>9.50</u:mn> </u:math> , <w:math xmlns:w="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M12"> <w:mi>p</w:mi> <w:mo><</w:mo> <w:mn>0.001</w:mn> </w:math> ). Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were significantly lower than those before treatment. TC decreased from <y:math xmlns:y="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M13"> <y:mn>5.34</y:mn> <y:mo>±</y:mo> <y:mn>1.05</y:mn> </y:math> mmol/L to <ab:math xmlns:ab="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M14"> <ab:mn>4.86</ab:mn> <ab:mo>±</ab:mo> <ab:mn>0.97</ab:mn> </ab:math> mmol/L ( <cb:math xmlns:cb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M15"> <cb:mn>95</cb:mn> <cb:mi>%</cb:mi> <cb:mtext>CI</cb:mtext> <cb:mo>=</cb:mo> <cb:mn>0.15</cb:mn> <cb:mo>–</cb:mo> <cb:mn>0.82</cb:mn> </cb:math> , <eb:math xmlns:eb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M16"> <eb:mi>p</eb:mi> <eb:mo><</eb:mo> <eb:mn>0.001</eb:mn> </eb:math> ). TG was 1.89 (1.48-3.17) and then to <gb:math xmlns:gb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M17"> <gb:mn>1.92</gb:mn> <gb:mo>±</gb:mo> <gb:mn>0.69</gb:mn> </gb:math> ( <ib:math xmlns:ib="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M18"> <ib:mi>p</ib:mi> <ib:mo>=</ib:mo> <ib:mn>0.03</ib:mn> </ib:math> ). LDL-C decreased from <kb:math xmlns:kb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M19"> <kb:mn>3.39</kb:mn> <kb:mo>±</kb:mo> <kb:mn>0.84</kb:mn> </kb:math> mmol/L to <mb:math xmlns:mb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M20"> <mb:mn>3.01</mb:mn> <mb:mo>±</mb:mo> <mb:mn>0.74</mb:mn> </mb:math> mmol/L ( <ob:math xmlns:ob="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M21"> <ob:mn>95</ob:mn> <ob:mi>%</ob:mi> <ob:mtext>CI</ob:mtext> <ob:mo>=</ob:mo> <ob:mn>0.17</ob:mn> <ob:mo>–</ob:mo> <ob:mn>0.59</ob:mn> </ob:math> , <qb:math xmlns:qb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M22"> <qb:mi>p</qb:mi> <qb:mo>=</qb:mo> <qb:mn>0.001</qb:mn> </qb:math> ). HDL-C increased by 1.7% after treatment, with no significant difference ( <sb:math xmlns:sb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M23"> <sb:mi>p</sb:mi> <sb:mo>=</sb:mo> <sb:mn>0.062</sb:mn> </sb:math> ). More importantly, the thickness of EAT decreased from 5.0 (5.0-7.0) mm to <ub:math xmlns:ub="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M24"> <ub:mn>3.95</ub:mn> <ub:mo>±</ub:mo> <ub:mn>1.43</ub:mn> </ub:math> mm ( <wb:math xmlns:wb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M25"> <wb:mi>p</wb:mi> <wb:mo><</wb:mo> <wb:mn>0.001</wb:mn> </wb:math> ) after liraglutide administered for 3 months. Conclusion. Liraglutide significantly reduces EAT thickness in T2DM with abdominal obesity, which provides theoretical support for the cardiovascular benefits of liraglutide.