5. Predictors of Response to Glucose-Lowering Therapies

An article published in April 2021 highlighted research that was published in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation. Using a nationwide database from Japan, researchers found the combination of disease duration/age at diagnosis and glyciated hemoglobin (A1C)/serum C-peptide reactivity ratios constituted a collective risk factor predicting response to diabetes medications.

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4. Trial Is First to Show Positive Results in HFpEF

In July 2021, a statement from the makers of empagliflozin—a sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor—revealed for the first time that a clinical trial showed a therapy can cut the risk of hospitalization and cardiovascular death in patients with HFpEF. The drug’s creators, Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim, would go on to present final results of EMPEROR-Preserved at the 2021 European Society of Cardiology Meeting.

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3. Semaglutide and Lifestyle Intervention Cut Body Weight

Findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February 2021 showed that once-weekly treatment with semaglutide, in addition to lifestyle intervention, among individuals with overweight or obesity was associated with sustained, clinically relevant reductions in body weight. After 68 weeks, these patients had a mean change in bodyweight of –14.9% compared with –2.4% in the placebo group.

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2. FDA Approves Semaglutide for Weight Loss When Used With Diet, Exercise

Marking the first time a drug has been approved for chronic weight management in adults with general obesity or overweight  since 2014, semaglutide is indicated for those with a body mass index (BMI) of 27 kg/m2 or greater who have at least 1 weight-related condition. These can include type 2 diabetes (T2D), high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. The drug can also be used among patients with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or greater without weight-related comorbidities.

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1. Oral Semaglutide Combo vs Injectable Insulin

In April 2021, a literature review of randomized clinical trials revealed that oral semaglutide plus basal insulin is as effective as or superior to the injectable version as treatment for T2D. The combination was also linked with similar risks of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea compared with all other types of GLP-1 RAs, but led to superior results in weight reduction among patients.

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Don Sin, MD, FRCP, MPH, a professor of respiratory medicine at the University of British Columbia and head of the Centre of Heart Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital, discusses future possibilities for the prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using new biomarker discoveries and genomic technology advancements.

Transcript

Do you think there might be a future role for predictive biomarkers or genomics for assisting with prevention efforts—for example, if a young adult discloses to their physician that they're vaping and they are told that they have a higher risk for obstructive lung disease later, beyond just their vaping behavior?

I think that's certainly in the cards. I'm not sure that that information alone will change behavior. As you know, behavior modification is complex and difficult. So I'm not confident that information itself would modify teenagers’ behavior or for somebody in their 20s. But nevertheless, these predictive biomarkers that you're talking about are coming down the pike with more research and, frankly, with better technology. So one of the barriers in the past has been our technology was crude. Now with the advent of genomics and multiomics and proteomics and all the other -omics, you know, I think the future is very bright for predictive biomarkers, response biomarkers, therapeutic biomarkers. So I think that is the wave of the future.