Effect of GLP-1RA on Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy in Type 2 Diabetes

Official title

A Study on the Effect of GLP-1 Receptor Agonist (GLP-1RA) Intervention on Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Overview

This study aims to investigate whether a class of diabetes medications called GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA), specifically semaglutide or polyethylene glycol loxenatide, can improve heart-related nerve damage in people with type 2 diabetes. This heart-related nerve damage is known as diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy (DCAN), which can cause problems such as fast resting heart rate, low blood pressure upon standing, and in severe cases, heart attack or sudden death. In this study, 60 adults with type 2 diabetes (ages 18-80) will be randomly divided into two groups. One group will receive standard diabetes care only, while the other group will receive standard care plus a once-weekly injection of either semaglutide or polyethylene glycol loxenatide for 6 months. Participants will undergo tests before and after the treatment period, including blood tests and non-invasive heart function tests (24-hour heart rate variability monitoring and cardiac autonomic reflex tests). The main goal is to see whether GLP-1RA treatment improves heart rate variability, a key sign of heart nerve function. The study also looks at changes in body weight, blood sugar control, and insulin resistance. This research may help determine whether GLP-1RA medications can protect against or improve diabetic heart nerve damage, beyond their known benefits for blood sugar control.

Interventions

• Drug GLP-1 Receptor Agonists
  GLP-1 receptor agonists are administered as a once-weekly subcutaneous injection for 6 months. Two specific GLP-1RAs are used in this study: semaglutide at 0.5 mg once weekly, or polyethylene glycol loxenatide at 0.2 mg once weekly. Both are approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and are used within their approved dosing guidelines.

Primary outcome measures

• heart rate variability（HRV） [Time frame: baseline and 12 weeks later]]

Secondary outcome measures (5)

• E/I difference [Time frame: basline and 12 weeks later]
• 30/15 ratio [Time frame: basline and 12 weeks later]
• Valsalva action [Time frame: basline and 12 weeks later]
• the difference between lying and Orthostatic blood pressure [Time frame: basline and 12 weeks later]
• grip strength tests [Time frame: basline and 12 weeks later]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Patients aged 18-70 years
• Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who meet the diagnostic guidelines
• Patient has signed the relevant informed consent form
• Being overweight or obese (BMI ≥ 24 kg/m²)

Exclusion criteria

• Age < 18 years
• Pregnant or lactating women
• Acute or chronic pancreatitis
• Recent acute complications of diabetes (e.g., diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state)
• Arrhythmia or taking medications that affect heart rate (e.g., beta-blockers, non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers, antiarrhythmic drugs)
• Thyroid disease
• Severe organ dysfunction (e.g., heart, liver, kidney failure)
• Denial of informed consent

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Treatment

Study locations

China · 1 center

• the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University — Nanjing

Publications

• Takaku S, Tsukamoto M, Niimi N, Yako H, Sango K. Exendin-4 Promotes Schwann Cell Survival/Migration and Myelination In Vitro. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Mar 15;22(6):2971. doi: 10.3390/ijms22062971. PMID 33804063
• Mehta K, Behl T, Kumar A, Uddin MS, Zengin G, Arora S. Deciphering the Neuroprotective Role of Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Agonists in Diabetic Neuropathy: Current Perspective and Future Directions. Curr Protein Pept Sci. 2021;22(1):4-18. doi: 10.2174/1389203721999201208195901. PMID 33292149
• Lee HS, Han J, Lee SH, Park JA, Kim KW. Meteorin promotes the formation of GFAP-positive glia via activation of the Jak-STAT3 pathway. J Cell Sci. 2010 Jun 1;123(Pt 11):1959-68. doi: 10.1242/jcs.063784. Epub 2010 May 11. PMID 20460434
• Jorgensen JR, Thompson L, Fjord-Larsen L, Krabbe C, Torp M, Kalkkinen N, Hansen C, Wahlberg L. Characterization of Meteorin--an evolutionary conserved neurotrophic factor. J Mol Neurosci. 2009 Sep;39(1-2):104-16. doi: 10.1007/s12031-009-9189-4. Epub 2009 Mar 4. PMID 19259827
• Kikel-Coury NL, Brandt JP, Correia IA, O'Dea MR, DeSantis DF, Sterling F, Vaughan K, Ozcebe G, Zorlutuna P, Smith CJ. Identification of astroglia-like cardiac nexus glia that are critical regulators of cardiac development and function. PLoS Biol. 2021 Nov 18;19(11):e3001444. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001444. eCollection 2021 Nov. PMID 34793438
• Aksu T, Gupta D, Pauza DH. Anatomy and Physiology of Intrinsic Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System: Da Vinci Anatomy Card #2. JACC Case Rep. 2021 Apr 21;3(4):625-629. doi: 10.1016/j.jaccas.2021.02.018. eCollection 2021 Apr. PMID 34317590
• Kapa S, DeSimone CV, Asirvatham SJ. Innervation of the heart: An invisible grid within a black box. Trends Cardiovasc Med. 2016 Apr;26(3):245-57. doi: 10.1016/j.tcm.2015.07.001. Epub 2015 Jul 9. PMID 26254961
• Wink J, van Delft R, Notenboom RGE, Wouters PF, DeRuiter MC, Plevier JWM, Jongbloed MRM. Human adult cardiac autonomic innervation: Controversies in anatomical knowledge and relevance for cardiac neuromodulation. Auton Neurosci. 2020 Sep;227:102674. doi: 10.1016/j.autneu.2020.102674. Epub 2020 May 16. PMID 32497872

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07558863 · 2026-SR-026

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗