Author(s)

Saud Alsifri¹, Hussein Elbadawi², Fahad Alsabaan³, Abdulraouf Almahfouz⁴, Khalid Alyahya⁵, Eman Shesha⁶, Laila Abu Esba⁷, Meshal Alnais⁸, Raed Aldahash⁹, Turky Alharbi¹⁰, Saleh Aljaser¹¹, Emad R. Issak^12*

¹Endocrinology Department, Alhada & Taif Armed Forces Hospitals, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
²My Clinic Medical Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
³Endocrinology Department, Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴Section of Endocrinology Department of Medicine, The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵Pharmacy Department, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶Diabetes Center, King Salman Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁷King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁸Internal Medicine and Diabetes, King Khalid Hospital, Hail, Saudi Arabia.
⁹Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City National Guard, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰Family Medicine Department, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹¹King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Science, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹²Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain-Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) provide adequate glycemic control, weight reduction, low risk of hypoglycemia, and CV risk reduction. Their usage for type 2 DM (T2DM) is recommended mainly when hypoglycemia or weight gain should be considered, also, whenever initial therapy is failed. There are many recent updates in the treatment paradigm of T2DM. There are many types of GLP-1RAs, with a knowledge gap regarding switching between the different types. A Saudi task force gathered to develop an explicit, evidence-based consensus for switching between GLP-1RAs, when, why, and how? This article contains the expert panel’s recommendations as a contribution to complement the knowledge gap in this area from the national perspective. As an alternative to intensifying therapy, switching from one GLP-1RA to another has various advantages. Improvements in glycemic control, weight loss, adherence, and medications with established cardiovascular benefits are among them. Also, switching needs to be individualized upon many discussed factors like the dose of the previous GLP1-RA and gastrointestinal adverse effects. Discussion with patients about the why and how to switch is critical.

Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists, Switching, Type 2 DM, Glycemic Control

Alsifri, S. , Elbadawi, H. , Alsabaan, F. , Almahfouz, A. , Alyahya, K. , Shesha, E. , Esba, L. , Alnais, M. , Aldahash, R. , Alharbi, T. , Aljaser, S. and Issak, E. (2022) Saudi Consensus for GLP-1 RAs Switching Guidance: Consensus Report. International Journal of Clinical Medicine, 13, 22-35. doi: 10.4236/ijcm.2022.131002.