A Daunting and Challenging Task to Prove the Effectiveness of Reducing Acute Exacerbation in COPD Patients with Type 2 Diabetes by GLP-1 Receptor Agonists / Reply

Foer et al respond to comments from Li and colleagues on their study on their shared interest in the GLP-1R (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor) pathway in obstructive respiratory disease. They state that they correctly note that their retrospective cohort included patients across the body mass index (BMI) spectrum and with a range chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) severity. They believe that this design provides practical, not problematic, information for future researchers designing clinical trials in specific COPD populations. Li and colleagues express interest in the COPD subpopulation with obesity. Although their study was designed to test hypotheses in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and COPD across the BMI spectrum, median baseline BMI was overweight or obese across groups, consistent with the metabolic syndrome phenotype in the US.