Effect of liraglutide on epicardial adipose tissue thickness with echocardiography in patients with obese type 2 diabetes mellitus

Liraglutide, an analogue of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), indicated for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), has shown the effect on loss of weight and adipose deposits. The study was to evaluate the effect of liraglutide on epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) with echocardiography in patients with obese T2DM controlled on liraglutide monotherapy. A single-arm follow-up research was performed in our study. Thirty-six subjects with obese T2DM were enrolled in the study, who were administered with liraglutide monotheraphy daily. The study period was 3 months. EAT thickness was measured with echocardiography both before and after treatment in each subject; meanwhile, anthropometrics and biochemicals (fasting blood glucose and hemoglobinA1c) were also conducted. EAT thickness decreased significantly after three-month treatment, from 9.14 ± 2.39 to 6.42 ± 1.48 mm (p < 0.05). Anthropometrics including body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), and some biochemicals including fasting blood glucose (FBG), hemoglobinA1c (HbA1c), C-peptide, insulin, HOMA-IR, AST, ALT, and urinary albumin significantly improved (totally p< 0.05). Interestingly, the variation of EAT thickness had positive correlation with the variations of WC, HC, and BMI. Liraglutide is beneficial to the decrease of EAT. EAT thickness can be measured with echocardiography to evaluate the effect of liraglutide in obese T2DM patients.