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Antidiabetic Drugs for the Risk of Alzheimer Disease in Patients With Type 2 DM Using FAERS.

Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen · 2020

Last updated 2026-05-28

A study of 66,085 adults over 65 with type 2 diabetes found that those taking certain drugs—rosiglitazone, exenatide, liraglutide, dulaglutide, or sitagliptin—had a lower reported risk of Alzheimer’s disease compared to those taking metformin. For example, rosiglitazone was linked to an 89% lower reported risk, while exenatide was linked to a 78% lower reported risk. The findings suggest these medications may be associated with reduced Alzheimer’s risk in this group.

AI summary of the abstract below.

JournalAm J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen, 2020
Citations71
Relative citation ratio4.27
NIH percentile90
Molecules
Conditions studied Type 2 Diabetes, Alzheimers

Abstract

Alzheimer disease (AD) may develop after the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and the risk of AD may depend on the antidiabetic drug administered. We compared the risk of AD among 66 085 patients (≥ 65 years) with T2DM (1250 having concomitant AD) who had been administered antidiabetic drug monotherapy for T2DM who had voluntarily reported themselves in the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System. The risk of AD from the use of different antidiabetic drug monotherapies compared to that of metformin monotherapy was assessed by logistic regression. Rosiglitazone (adjusted reporting odds ratio [aROR] = 0.11; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.07-0.17; < .001), exenatide (aROR = 0.22; 95% CI: 0.11-0.37; < .001), liraglutide (aROR = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.19-0.62; < .001), dulaglutide (aROR = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.17-0.77; = .014), and sitagliptin (aROR = 0.75; 95% CI: 0.60-0.93; = .011) were found to have a significantly lower associated risk of AD than that of metformin. Therefore, the administration of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists and rosiglitazone may reduce the risk of AD in patients with T2DM.

Verbatim abstract via PubMed 32162525 ↗