Efficacy and Safety of Dulaglutide in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: a Meta-analysis and Systematic Review

A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of dulaglutide in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library and www. clinicaltrials. gov (up to February 15(th), 2015) were searched. Randomized controlled trials comparing dulaglutide to other drugs for T2DM were collected. Twelve RCTs were included, and the overall bias was low. As the monotherapy, compared with control (placebo, metformin and liraglutide), dulaglutide resulted in a significant reduction in HbA1c (WMD, -0.68%; 95% CI, -0.95 to -0.40), FPG (WMD, -0.90 mmol/L; 95% CI, -1.28 to -0.52), a similar risk of hypoglycemia (7.8% vs. 10.6%), less body weight loss (WMD, 0.51 kg; 95% CI, 0.27 to 0.75). As an add-on intervention with oral antihyperglycemic medication (OAM) and insulin, compared with control (placebo, sitagliptin, exenatide, liraglutide and glargine), dulaglutide lowered HbA1c (WMD, -0.51%; 95% CI, -0.68 to -0.35) and body weight significantly (WMD, -1.30 kg, 95% CI, -1.85 to -1.02) notably, and elicited a similar reduction in FPG (WMD, -0.19 mmol/L; 95% CI, -1.20 to 0.82), an similar incidence of hypoglycemia (24.5% vs. 24.5%). This meta-analysis revealed the use of dulaglutide as a monotherapy or an add-on to OAM and lispro appeared to be effective and safe for adults with T2DM.