Evidence Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Cardiol. Aug 26, 2025; 17(8): 107991
Published online Aug 26, 2025. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v17.i8.107991
Efficacy and safety of incretin co-agonists: Transformative advances in cardiometabolic healthcare
Sowrabha Bhat, Cornelius J Fernandez, Vijaya Lakshmi, Joseph M Pappachan
Sowrabha Bhat, Department of Endocrinology, Yenepoya Medical College & Center for Nutrition Studies, Yenepoya University, Mangalore 575018, Karnātaka, India
Cornelius J Fernandez, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Pilgrim Hospital, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Boston PE21 9QS, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
Vijaya Lakshmi, Department of Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, Karnātaka, India
Joseph M Pappachan, Faculty of Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M15 6BH, United Kingdom
Joseph M Pappachan, Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, Karnātaka, India
Co-first authors: Sowrabha Bhat and Cornelius J Fernandez.
Author contributions: Bhat S, Fernandez CJ, and Lakshmi V participated in the literature search and interpretation of relevant data; Pappachan JM conceived the idea, contributed to the conceptualisation and design of the article, revision and overall supervision of the article drafting process and contributed to the revision of the paper. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript. Bhat S and Fernandez CJ, substantially contributed to article drafting, created the figures, and revision and share the first authorship.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts in interests among authors.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Joseph M Pappachan, MD, MRCP, FRCP, Professor, Senior Researcher, Faculty of Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6BH, United Kingdom. drpappachan@yahoo.co.in
Received: April 2, 2025
Revised: May 28, 2025
Accepted: July 14, 2025
Published online: August 26, 2025
Processing time: 141 Days and 13.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Several incretin co-agonists have been developed in the recent years with outstanding metabolic and weight loss benefits revolutionising management of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Management of obesity and T2DM with these glucagon-like peptide-1/glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide/glucagon co-agonists/poly-agonists are associated with remarkable weight loss, improvement of glycated hemoglobin, albuminuria, lipid profile, liver fat and sleep apnea among patients. All these benefits are also associated with marked improvement in cardiovascular outcomes in patients treated with these medications. This clinical update review explores current evidence and emerging research questions regarding the cardiometabolic benefits associated with rational use of incretin co-agonists.