Long-term effects of different hypoglycemic drugs on carotid intima-media thickness progression: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The progression of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) can partially predict the occurrence of future cardiovascular events. This network meta-analysis compared the effects of 14 antidiabetic drugs (acarbose, alogliptin, exenatide, glibenclamide, glimepiride, ipragliflozin, metformin, nateglinide, pioglitazone, rosiglitazone, sitagliptin, tofoglifozin, troglitazone, voglibose) on the progression of cIMT. METHOD: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched to screen all clinical trials of treatment of cIMT with hypoglycemic agents before March 1, 2024. The differences in the changes in cIMT between the treatment group and control group were evaluated. RESULT: After screening 8395 citations, 25 studies (6675 patients) were included. The results indicated that exenatide had the best efficacy in slowing down cIMT progress, and exenatide [MD=-0.13,95%CI (-0.25, -0.01)], alogliptin [MD=-0.08,95%CI (-0.13, -0.02)] and metformin [MD=-0.05, 95%CI (-0.09, -0.02)] are more effective than placebo. CONCLUSION: Long-term treatment of exenatide, alogliptin, and metformin may be more effective than other hypoglycemic drugs in slowing the progression of cIMT. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42024519474.