A retrospective study of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists for the management of diabetes after transplantation
Open accessAbstract
INTRODUCTION: Management of post-transplant diabetes mellitus is challenging; there is a lack of prospective randomized controlled trials for safety and efficacy of antidiabetic medications in solid organ recipients. Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) are a relatively new class of medications used to manage type 2 diabetes in the general population. They have several benefits besides glycemic control, including weight loss and improved cardiovascular risk. However, they have not been studied extensively in the post-transplant population for safety and efficacy. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of patients who had received kidney, liver, or heart transplant, had diabetes either pre- or post-transplant, and were treated with GLP-1RA. We identified seven kidney, seven liver, and five heart transplant recipients who had received GLP-1RA. We assessed changes in immunosuppressant levels, rejection episodes, changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), weight, and body mass index (BMI) while on the GLP-1RA. We also looked at changes in insulin dose, other diabetes medications, heart rate, blood pressure, and renal function. RESULTS: at the end of 12 months [95% CI - 2.53, - 0.73]. HbA1c decreased from baseline by 1.08% [95% CI - 1.65, - 0.51], 0.96% [95% CI - 1.68, - 0.25], and 0.75% [95% CI - 1.55, 0.05] at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that GLP-1RA do not affect tacrolimus levels or transplant outcomes in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients in the short term. GLP-1RA also seem to be as effective in SOT recipients for glycemic control and weight loss as in the non-transplant population with diabetes.
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Studies have not found evidence of drug interaction between GLP-1 RAs and immunosuppression, including no changes in dosing or toxicity.
“Studies have not found evidence of drug interaction with immunosuppression, including finding no changes in dosing or toxicity (231-233).”
From 9. Pharmacologic Approaches to Glycemic Treatment: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2025 (2025) · cites this paper as [231]
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“Besides glycemic control, they also have other potential advantages, such as weight loss and improved cardiovascular risk [7].”
BackgroundPost-Transplant Diabetes Mellitus: Causes, Treatment, and Impact on Outcomes
Shivaswamy, V., Boerner, B., & Larsen, J. (2016) · Endocrine Reviews · doi:10.1210/er.2015-1084 · Cited by 328 · see citing works
Self-citationComparison Review of Short-Acting and Long-Acting Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists
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Coadministration of Liraglutide With Tacrolimus in Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Case Series
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9. Pharmacologic Approaches to Glycemic Treatment: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2025
American Diabetes Association Professional Practice Committee, ElSayed, N. A., McCoy, R. G., Aleppo, G., Bajaj, M., Balapattabi, K., Beverly, E. A., Briggs Early, K., Bruemmer, D., Echouffo-Tcheugui, J. B., et al. (2025) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc25-s009 · Cited by 728 · see citing works
- Authors
- Thangavelu, T., Lyden, E., & Shivaswamy, V.
- Affiliations
- Nebraska Medical Center (US)
- University of Nebraska Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Shivaswamy, Vijay
- Venue
- Diabetes Therapy
- Published
- 2020-02-18
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 987-994
- ISSN
- 1869-6953 (ISSN-L)
- 1869-6961
- PMC
- PMC7136376
- OpenAlex
- W3006683723
- Cited by
- 96
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 5.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Diabetes Therapy (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Treatment and Management
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Transplantation › Renal Transplantation Outcomes and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Research
- Keywords
- GLP-1 receptor agonists, post-transplant diabetes mellitus, solid organ transplantation, kidney transplantation, liver transplantation, heart transplantation, tacrolimus levels, immunosuppression, glycemic control, HbA1c, weight loss, body mass index, insulin dose, graft rejection
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