Exenatide once-weekly improves metabolic parameters, endothelial dysfunction and carotid intima-media thickness in patients with type-2 diabetes: An 8-month prospective study

•Treatment with exenatide showed cardiovascular safety.•An improvement on atherosclerosis surrogate markers was found.•The changes were independent of glucometabolic control. To evaluate the effect of exenatide long acting release (LAR) on carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and endothelial function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Sixty subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus were treated with exenatide LAR as add-on to stable doses of metformin for 8 months in an open label study. Anthropometric variables, lipid profile and glycemic parameters were assessed by routine analysis. Carotid IMT by Doppler ultrasound and endothelial function by flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery were also assessed. Exenatide significantly improved fasting glycaemia (from 8.8 ± 2.8 to 7.3 ± 2.2 mmol/L, p