Improving cardiovascular risk--applying evidence-based medicine to glucose-lowering therapy with thiazolidinediones in patients with type 2 diabetes

Gliptins and Cardiovascular Outcomes: A Comparative and Critical Analysis after TECOS

The issue related to macrovascular outcomes and intensive glycemic control was hotly debated after the publication of landmark trials like ACCORD, ADVANCE, and VADT. The only benefits seem to come from intervening early on in the disease process as indicated by the 10-year UKPDS follow-up. To complicate matters USFDA made it mandatory for modern drugs to conduct cardiovascular safety trials in high-risk populations after the 2008 rosiglitazone scare. This led to all the modern group of drugs designing cardiovascular safety trials (gliptins, GLP-1 agonists, and SGLT-2 inhibitors) to meet USFDA regulatory requirements. We saw publication of the first 2 randomized trials with gliptins published a year and a half back. On the face value SAVOR TIMI and EXAMINE satisfied the primary composite CV end-points. However, issues related to significant increase in heart failure and all-cause 7-day on-treatment mortality created a lot of confusion. FDA reanalysis of these data (especially SAVOR) raises a lot of doubts as far as CV safety of these groups of drugs was concerned. Hence, all eyes were on TECOS, which was published this year. We take a microscopic look at these trials trying to understand where we stand as from now on this issue.

Outcomes and lessons from the PROactive study

Beyond improvement of glucose control, thiazolidinediones exert pleiotropic effects, which may contribute to some cardiovascular protection. PROactive ("PROspective pioglitAzone Clinical Trial In macroVascular Events") has provided valuable, although controversial, information on the impact of pioglitazone on cardiovascular outcomes in a high-risk population of patients with type 2 diabetes and established macrovascular disease. Since 2005, there has been much debate on the relative value of the statistically non-significant 10% reduction in the quite challenging primary composite endpoint (combining cardiovascular disease-driven and procedural events in all vascular beds) versus the statistically significant 16% decrease in the more robust and conventional main secondary endpoint (all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, and stroke) observed with pioglitazone. Revisiting PROactive deserves much interest following the report of inconclusive results on cardiovascular efficacy and safety of rosiglitazone in RECORD, the withdrawal (limitation) of rosiglitazone because of cardiovascular safety concern, the recent publication of a statement positioning pioglitazone in type 2 diabetes and the near availability of cheaper generics of pioglitazone. Although subanalyses may have more limited value from a statistical viewpoint, they nonetheless can provide valuable information on the drug efficacy/safety profile and clinical insights into which patients might benefit most (in terms of cardiovascular outcomes) from pioglitazone therapy.

Addressing cardiovascular risk in patients with type 2 diabetes: focus on primary care

Type 2 diabetes is a disorder of glucose and lipid metabolism associated with increased risk of macrovascular and microvascular complications. The primary focus of treating type 2 diabetes is glycemic control; simultaneous management of cardiometabolic risk factors, including blood pressure, lipid profile and overweight/obesity, has been shown to improve outcomes. All patients with diabetes require individualized combination therapy including diet and exercise intervention to help prevent microvascular and macrovascular complications. Because primary care physicians in the United States provide the majority of care for patients with type 2 diabetes, this article discusses the management of cardiovascular risk with a specific focus on primary care. In addition, mechanisms by which existing and novel antidiabetes therapies may modulate the metabolic pathways and a review of the benefits of cardiovascular risk reduction using multifactorial, primary care-focused intervention strategies will be discussed. Finally, early- and late-stage disease management strategies are discussed.