Use of glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonists for type 2 diabetes mellitus and outcomes of inflammatory bowel disease

Summary Background Glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonists (GLP‐1RA) show anti‐inflammatory properties. Aim To evaluate their clinical impact on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) outcomes. Methods Retrospective cohort study utilising the TriNetX database comparing IBD‐specific outcomes in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn's disease (CD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on GLP‐1RA compared to oral hypoglycaemic agents. The primary outcome was hospitalisation requiring intravenous steroids and IBD‐related surgery within 3 years. We performed 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) for demographics, co‐morbid conditions, BMI, laboratory values, HbA1c, and IBD medications including steroids. Results We identified 1130 patients in the UC GLP‐1RA cohort (mean age: 58.9 ± 11.6 years, 56.3% female, 70.2% White, 57.2% with obesity) and 1140 patients in the CD GLP‐1RA cohort (mean age: 56.7 ± 11.5, 61.9% female, 73.6% White, 56.2% with obesity). After PSM, there was no difference in the risk of intravenous steroid use (aHR: 1.21, 95% CI: 0.92–1.59) but a lower risk of colectomy (aHR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.14–0.97) between the UC GLP‐1RA and control cohort. There was no difference in the risk of intravenous steroid use (aHR: 1.04, 95% CI: 0.80–1.34) but a lower risk of surgery (aHR: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.36–0.84) between the CD GLP‐1RA and CD control cohort. There was no difference in the risk of oral steroid use or advanced therapy initiation in the UC and CD GLP‐1RA than control cohorts. Conclusions We found an association between lower risk of IBD‐related surgery and GLP‐1RA use for T2DM in patients with UC or CD.