Vascular and Myocardial Function in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Ischemic Stroke Treated with Dulaglutide or Empagliflozin

<i>Background and Objectives:</i> Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and ischemic stroke present with endothelial, vascular and left ventricular (LV) myocardial dysfunction. We investigated the effects of treatment with either glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) or sodium-glucose contrasporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i) on endothelial glycocalyx, arterial stiffness, and LV myocardial strain in patients with metformin-treated T2DM and a prior ischemic stroke. <i>Materials and Methods:</i> A total of 54 consecutive patients with T2DM and ischemic stroke who attended a cardiometabolic outpatient clinic in Athens, Greece, and received either GLP-1RA (dulaglutide; n = 27) or SGLT-2i (empagliflozin; n = 27) were enrolled in the study. We measured the perfused boundary region (PBR) of the sublingual microvessels, a marker of glycocalyx thickness, as well as carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) and LV global longitudinal strain (GLS), at baseline and at 4 and 12 months of treatment. <i>Results:</i> Twelve months after treatment, all patients had reduced glycosylated hemoglobin and body mass index (BMI) (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Patients treated with dulaglutide showed a greater reduction in BMI (-11.8% vs. -4.8%, <i>p</i> < 0.001) compared to those treated with empagliflozin. Compared to baseline, all patients had reduced PBR, PWV and GLS (<i>p</i> < 0.001) after 12 months of treatment. However, empagliflozin presented a greater decrease in PWV (-14% vs. -10.9%, <i>p</i> = 0.041), while dulaglutide resulted in a greater increase in GLS (14.7% vs. 8.3%, <i>p</i> = 0.024) compared to empagliflozin. In all patients, the reduction in PBR at 12 months was correlated with a decrease in PWV and with an increase in GLS (<i>p</i> < 0.05). <i>Conclusions:</i> Both dulaglutide and empagliflozin improve cardiovascular function in T2DM patients with ischemic stroke. Dulaglutide appears to be more effective in the improvement of LV myocardial strain, whereas empagliflozin is more effective in reducing arterial stiffness.