DPP-4 inhibitors have no mortality benefit in type 2 diabetes, analysis shows

Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors do not lower death rates in patients with type 2 diabetes, an analysis comparing them with other common treatments has shown^[1]
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Researchers carried out a network meta-analysis of 236 trials, including 176,310 participants who were treated with DPP-4 inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists, and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors.

The results, published in JAMA (17 April 2018), showed that SGLT-2 inhibitors and GLP-1 agonists were significantly associated with lower all-cause death rates compared with controls (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.80 and 0.88, respectively) and DPP-4 inhibitors (HR: 0.78 and 0.86, respectively). DPP-4 inhibitors were not associated with lower death rates than controls (HR: 1.02).

Incretin-based therapies have been shown in previous studies to improve glycaemic control in people with type 2 diabetes, but the authors of this analysis concluded: “Use of DPP-4 inhibitors was not associated with lower mortality than placebo or no treatment.”