Efficacy and safety of linagliptin in Hispanic/Latino patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a pooled analysis from six randomized placebo-controlled phase 3 trials

Objective: The number of individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus is expected to rise disproportionately in Hispanic/Latino populations. We therefore aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor linagliptin specifically in Hispanic/Latino patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Research design and methods: Data from 745 patients who self-identified their ethnicity as Hispanic or Latino were pooled from six randomized, placebo-controlled phase 3 trials. Participants received linagliptin (5 mg/day) or placebo as monotherapy, or in combination with other oral antidiabetes drugs for 18 or 24 weeks.

Results: The placebo-adjusted mean change (95% CI) in glycated hemoglobin from baseline (mean 8.2%) was -0.63% (-0.77 to -0.48; p<0.0001) at week 18, and -0.58% (-0.74 to -0.42; p<0.0001) at week 24. The placebo-adjusted mean change (95% CI) in fasting plasma glucose from baseline was -11.7 mg/dL (-19.3 to -4.0; p=0.0028) at week 18 and -14.1 mg/dL (-22.0 to -6.3; p=0.0004) at week 24. Hypoglycemia incidence was 17.4% with linagliptin and 21% with placebo. In patients not receiving concomitant sulfonylurea, the hypoglycemia incidence was 10.1% with linagliptin and 19.4% with placebo. The overall incidence of adverse events (AEs), drug-related AEs, and serious AEs with linagliptin was similar to placebo (AEs 67.6% vs 68.9%; drug-related AEs 15.1% vs 18.7%; serious AEs 3.6% vs 3.0%). The mean body weight remained unchanged in both groups.

Conclusions: In Hispanic/Latino patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus, linagliptin provided clinically meaningful improvements in glycemic control without weight gain or increased risk of hypoglycemia.