Purpose of review: The growing number of obese patients with a high risk of developing hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus requires several drugs to treat all the associated morbidities. Ideally, one drug would help to tackle several health problems at the same time. We review available information on the blood pressure-reducing effects of the new antidiabetic drug classes, glucagon-like peptide 1 analogues and sodium glucose transporter 2 inhibitors.
Recent findings: Blood pressure reduction with glucagon-like peptide 1 analogues or sodium glucose transporter 2 inhibitors ranges between 1 and 7 mmHg, both systolic and diastolic. As these drugs have not been sufficiently investigated in studies with office or ambulatory blood pressure as the primary efficacy measure or in prespecified hypertensive patient populations, their true efficacy in reducing blood pressure remains unclear. These studies are needed because the blood pressure-lowering effects of metabolic drugs may help to improve the clinical management of hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Summary: Obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and difficult to control arterial hypertension represent a clinically important patient group at high cardiovascular risk that may profit from combined cardiovascular and metabolic actions of a drug.