Uveitis risk reduced with GLP-1RAs

Users of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are at lower risk of uveitis compared with nonusers, according to a retrospective study.

Researchers used data from the TriNetX platform and identified patients with and without diabetes who had prescriptions for GLP-1RAs, metformin, insulin, or sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is). The control groups consisted of patients without prescriptions for each medication.

The analysis included 516,052 propensity-score matched patients, of whom 258,026 (mean age 56.4 years, 61.6 percent female) were in the GLP-1RA group and 258,026 (mean age 56.4 years, 61.8 percent female) were in the control group.

Compared with the control group, the GLP-1RA group had a lower risk of noninfectious uveitis (risk ratio [RR], 0.48, 95 percent CI, 0.46–0.51). This association was consistent among patients with type 2 diabetes (RR, 0.54, 95 percent CI, 0.51–0.58) and those without diabetes (RR, 0.52, 95 percent CI, 0.46–0.59).

Notably, GLP-1RAs conferred greater protection against uveitis compared with either metformin (RR, 0.58, 95 percent CI, 0.54–0.62) or insulin (RR, 0.57, 95 percent CI, 0.54–0.61). In contrast, GLP-1RAs were associated with a small risk increase compared with SGLT2is (RR, 1.17, 95 percent CI, 1.04–1.32).

SGLT2i users also had reduced uveitis risk compared with nonuser controls (RR, 0.52, 95 percent CI, 0.48–0.56).

The present data suggest that GLP1-RAs may have potential anti-inflammatory benefits beyond glycaemic control, the researchers said. More studies are needed to investigate the role of these drugs in ocular inflammatory diseases.