Acute pancreatitis in type 2 diabetes treated with exenatide or sitagliptin: a retrospective observational pharmacy claims analysis.
OBJECTIVE
Cases of acute pancreatitis have been reported in association with exenatide, sitagliptin, and type 2 diabetes without use of these medications. It remains unknown whether exenatide or sitagliptin increase the risk of acute pancreatitis.


METHODS
A retrospective cohort study of a large medical and pharmacy claims database was performed. Data for 786,656 patients were analyzed. Cox proportional hazard models were built to compare the risk of acute pancreatitis between diabetic and nondiabetic subjects and between exenatide, sitagliptin, and control diabetes medication use.


RESULTS
Incidence of acute pancreatitis in the nondiabetic control group, diabetic control group, exenatide group, and sitagliptin group was 1.9, 5.6, 5.7, and 5.6 cases per 1,000 patient years, respectively. The risk of acute pancreatitis was significantly higher in the combined diabetic groups than in the nondiabetic control group (adjusted hazard ratio 2.1 [95% CI 1.7-2.5]). Risk of acute pancreatitis was similar in the exenatide versus diabetic control group (0.9 [0.6-1.5]) and sitagliptin versus diabetic control group (1.0 [0.7-1.3]).


CONCLUSIONS
Our study demonstrated increased incidence of acute pancreatitis in diabetic versus nondiabetic patients but did not find an association between the use of exenatide or sitagliptin and acute pancreatitis. The limitations of this observational claims-based analysis cannot exclude the possibility of an increased risk.
Garg
Rajesh
R
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Chen
William
W
Pendergrass
Merri
M
D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000077270:Exenatide; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010455:Peptides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011719:Pyrazines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000068900:Sitagliptin Phosphate; D014230:Triazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014688:Venoms / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D010455:Peptides; D011719:Pyrazines; D014230:Triazoles; D014688:Venoms; D000077270:Exenatide; D000068900:Sitagliptin Phosphate