Clinical trials with reno-vascular end points in patients with diabetes: Changing the scenario over the past 20 years

Frailty Detection in Older Adults with Diabetes: A Scoping Review of Assessment Tools and Their Link to Key Clinical Outcomes

Objectives: With the increasing prevalence of diabetes and frailty among older adults, there is an urgent need for precision medicine that incorporates comprehensive geriatric assessments, including frailty detection. This scoping review aims to map and synthesize the available evidence on validated tools for detecting pre-frailty and frailty in community-dwelling elderly individuals with diabetes and outpatient diabetes patients. Specifically, it addresses: (1) What validated tools are available for detecting pre-frailty and frailty in this population? (2) How are these tools associated with outcomes such as glycemic control, hypoglycemia, and metabolic phenotypes? (3) What gaps exist in the literature regarding these tools? Methods: The review followed PRISMA-ScR guidelines, conducting a systematic search across PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. The inclusion criteria focused on studies involving individuals aged 70 years and older with diabetes, emphasizing tools with predictive capacity for disability and mortality. Results: Eight instruments met the inclusion criteria, including the Frailty Index, Physical Frailty Phenotype, and Clinical Frailty Scale. These tools varied in domains such as physical, psychological, and social aspects of frailty and their association with glycemic control, hypoglycemia, and metabolic phenotypes. The review identified significant gaps in predicting diabetes-related complications and their clinical application. Conclusions: Routine management of older adults with diabetes should incorporate frailty detection, as it is crucial for their overall health. Although widely used, the reviewed tools require refinement to address the unique characteristics of this population. Developing tailored instruments will enhance precision medicine, leading to more effective, individualized interventions for elderly individuals with diabetes.

Molecular Targets of Novel Therapeutics for Diabetic Kidney Disease: A New Era of Nephroprotection

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a chronic microvascular complication in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Although glomerulosclerosis, tubular injury and interstitial fibrosis are typical damages of DKD, the interplay of different processes (metabolic factors, oxidative stress, inflammatory pathway, fibrotic signaling, and hemodynamic mechanisms) appears to drive the onset and progression of DKD. A growing understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms, and the development of new therapeutics, is opening the way for a new era of nephroprotection based on precision-medicine approaches. This review summarizes the therapeutic options linked to specific molecular mechanisms of DKD, including renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockers, SGLT2 inhibitors, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, endothelin receptor antagonists, and aldosterone synthase inhibitors. In a new era of nephroprotection, these drugs, as pillars of personalized medicine, can improve renal outcomes and enhance the quality of life for individuals with DKD.