Abstract
BACKGROUND: Three cases of ileus have been published among dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor users in Japan. The purpose of this study was to estimate and compare incidence rates of ileus among alogliptin users and users of other DPP-4 inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, and voglibose. METHODS: We used the Medical Data Vision database in Japan to conduct a retrospective cohort study among type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients who were new users of alogliptin, other DPP-4 inhibitors, GLP-1 receptor agonists, or voglibose between 1 April 2010 and 30 April 2014. The primary outcome was an incident diagnosis of ileus. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to estimate ileus events over time. Adjusted Poisson regression models were used to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRR) for ileus and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) by comparing alogliptin users to users of the other study drugs. RESULTS: We identified 82,386 patients with T2DM. In the adjusted model, there was no difference in risk of ileus among patients exposed to alogliptin compared with patients exposed to other DPP-4 inhibitors (IRR 1.15, 95 % CI 0.75-1.75) or GLP-1 receptor agonists (IRR 0.42, 95 % CI 0.14-1.20). The risk of ileus was significantly lower among patients exposed to alogliptin compared with patients exposed to voglibose (IRR 0.55, 95 % CI 0.35-0.88). CONCLUSIONS: The independent risk of ileus among new users of alogliptin did not significantly differ compared with new users of other DPP-4 inhibitors or GLP-1 receptor agonists but was significantly lower than new users of voglibose.