Dore FJ, et al. - Researchers investigated if the addition of saxagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, to metformin, may attenuate cardiovascular disease risk in addition to improving glycemic control in Type 2 diabetes patients. Study participants included subjects aged 40–70 years with diabetes for < 10 years, with no known cardiovascular disease, body mass index (BMI) 25–39.9, hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) 6–9%. Findings of gene expression analysis demonstrated an upregulation in CD34+ cells for antioxidant SOD1 and a downregulation in CD34- cells for interleukin 6 (IL-6). Overall, endothelial dysfunction can be improved with the use of saxagliptin, in combination with metformin, in early diabetes before the appearance of macrovascular complications.