DPP-4 inhibitors diabetes drugs show no improvement or worsening of heart risk

A number of studies reviewing the effects on heart disease risk associated with drugs in the DPP-4 inhibitors diabetes drugs class show no improvement or worsening in the risk of suffering heart disease.
Drugs from the DPP-4 inhibitors group included in the studies were saxaglipti, which has been given the trade name Onglyza, and aloglipti, which has the trade name Nesina.
Diabetes drugs have come under close scrutiny in terms of their heart disease risk after the widely prescribed drug Avandia was shown to be linked with an increase in the risk of heart disease. It should be noted that Avandia is in a different class of drugs known as thiazolidinediones, or TZDs for short.
In the studies, the DPP-4 inhibitors Onglyza and Nesina had mixed results. They neither increased nor decreased overall heart risk. The other key point from the study is that there was an increase in hospitalisations for heart failure amongst those taking Onglyza. The studies were large scale and included over 16,000 patients taking Onglyza and over 5,000 patients on Nesina.
The statistics for hospitalisations for heart failure showed 3.5% for people taking Onglyza compared with 2.8% amongst those in the control group.
DPP-4 inhibitors, also known as gliptins, have a modest effect on improving HbA1c results but, unlike some other diabetes drugs such as sulphonylureas or prandial glucose regulators, are not associated with weight gain. Gliptins have recently been associated with a possible increase in risk of developing pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer, however, the recent studies showed no increase in these conditions for either saxagliptin or alogliptin.
The leading medication in terms of sales in the DPP-4 inhibitors class is Januvia. A heart risk study of 14,000 patients on Januvia is currently underway and results are expected in 2014.