Objective To observe the influence of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) on secreted frizzled related protein 1 (SFRP1) and β-catenin in newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients. Methods A total of 72 patients who were newly diagnosed as T2DM and cared in the Department of Endocrinology of the People’s Hospital of Liaoning Province from January 2015 to December 2015 were recruited as T2DM group, and at the same time, 80 healthy subjects without T2DM were recruited as normal control (NC) group. The clinical data and biochemical indexes were selected and compared at the beginning of the study. The levels of SFRP1 and β-catenin at the beginning, after 12-week treatment using Liraglutide and 12 weeks after drug withdrawal were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The levels of BMI, FPG, Fins, HbA1c, HOMA-IR, SFRP1 and β-catenin were higher, and the HOMA-β was lower in the T2DM group than in the NC group (P < 0.05). Compared with the levels at the beginning of the study, the levels of BMI, FPG, HbA1c, TC, HDL-C and HOMA IR were reduced, the HOMA-β was raised in the T2DM group after 12-week treatment and 12 weeks after drug withdrawal (P < 0.05). There were statistically significant differences in SFRP1 and β-catenin in the T2DM group at different time points (F =120.633 and 376.649, P = 0.000); the levels of SFRP1 were higher (t = -9.294 and -9.927, P = 0.000), and the β-catenin levels were lower (t = 18.468 and 6.956, P = 0.000) in the T2DM group after 12-week treatment and 12 weeks after drug withdrawal than those at the beginning; and the SFRP1 level 12 weeks after drug withdrawal was lower than that after 12-week treatment (t = 6.355, P = 0.000), and the β-catenin level was higher than that after 12-week treatment (t = 18.129, P = 0.000). Conclusions GLP-1 can improve islet beta cell function, raise the SFRP1 level and reduce the β-catenin level, which may be related to its influence on the Wnt signaling pathway.