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Cardiovascular risk remains increased despite optimal low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level induced by intensive statin therapy. Therefore, recent guidelines recommend non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) as a secondary target for preventing cardiovascular events. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of omega-3 fatty acids (OM3-FAs) in combination with atorvastatin compared to atorvastatin alone in patients with mixed dyslipidemia.
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, and phase III multicenter study included adults with fasting triglyceride (TG) levels ≥200 and <500 mg/dL and LDL-C levels <110 mg/dL. Eligible subjects were randomized to ATOMEGA (OM3-FAs 4,000 mg plus atorvastatin calcium 20 mg) or atorvastatin 20 mg plus placebo groups. The primary efficacy endpoints were the percent changes in TG and non-HDL-C levels from baseline at the end of treatment.
After 8 weeks of treatment, the percent changes from baseline in TG (−29.8% vs. 3.6%,
The addition of OM3-FAs to atorvastatin improved TG and non-HDL-C levels to a significant extent compared to atorvastatin alone in subjects with residual hypertriglyceridemia.
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The apolipoprotein B/A1 (apoB/A1) ratio is a stronger predictor of future cardiovascular disease than is the level of conventional lipids. Statin and ezetimibe combination therapy have shown additional cardioprotective effects over statin monotherapy.
This was a single-center, randomized, open-label, active-controlled study in Korea. A total of 36 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomized to either rosuvastatin monotherapy (20 mg/day,
After the 6-week treatment, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and apoB reduction were comparable between the two groups (−94.3±15.4 and −62.0±20.9 mg/dL in the rosuvastatin group, −89.9±22.7 and −66.8±21.6 mg/dL in the rosuvastatin/ezetimibe group,
A 6-week combination therapy of low-dose rosuvastatin and ezetimibe showed LDL-C, apoB, and apoB/A1 ratio reduction comparable to that of high-dose rosuvastatin monotherapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Triglyceride and FFA reductions were greater with the combination therapy than with rosuvastatin monotherapy.
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Recent studies have correlated serum cystatin C (CysC) with vascular complications, but few studies have investigated this correlation in diabetes patients without nephropathy. This study aimed to evaluate if higher serum CysC levels increase the risk for vascular complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with normal renal function or mild renal impairment.
A total of 806 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were admitted to the diabetes center of Soonchunhyang University Hospital for blood glucose control were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with nephropathy were excluded. Subjects were categorized into quartiles of serum CysC levels (Q1, ≤0.65 mg/L; Q2, 0.66 to 0.79 mg/L; Q3, 0.80 to 0.94 mg/L; and Q4, ≥0.95 mg/L).
The proportion of patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR) (
Serum CysC levels are independently associated with DR and CHD, suggesting that CysC may be useful for identifying type 2 diabetes mellitus patients without nephropathy who are at high risk for vascular complications.
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There has been evidences of ethnic differences in the low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering effect of statin. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of moderate-intensity statins in the treatment of dyslipidemia among Korean patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
We analyzed a retrospective cohort that consisted of Korean patients with T2DM aged 40 to 75 years who had been prescribed any of the moderate-intensity statins (atorvastatin 10 or 20 mg, rosuvastatin 5 or 10 mg, pitavastatin 2 mg, or pravastatin 40 mg). Among them, only patients with baseline lipid profiles before starting statin treatment were selected, and changes in their lipid profiles before and 6 months after statin therapy were analyzed.
Following the first 6 months of therapy, the overall LDL-C reduction was −47.4% (interquartile range, −56.6% to −34.1%). In total, 92.1% of the participants achieved an LDL-C level of <100 mg/dL, 38.3% had a 30% to 50% reduction in their LDL-C levels, and 42.3% had a reduction in their LDL-C levels greater than 50%. The response rates of each drug for achieving a LDL-C level <100 mg/dL were 81.7%, 93.1%, 95.0%, 95.0%, 96.5%, and 91.7% for treatment with atorvastatin doses of 10 or 20 mg, rosuvastatin 5 or 10 mg, pitavastatin 2 mg, and pravastatin 40 mg, respectively.
In conclusion, the use of moderate-intensity statins reduced LDL-C levels less than 100 mg/dL in most of the Korean patients studied with T2DM. The efficacies of those statins were higher than expected in about 42% of Korean patients with T2DM.
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Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common form of chronic liver disease in industrialized countries. Recent studies have highlighted the association between peroxisomal dysfunction and hepatic steatosis. Peroxisomes are intracellular organelles that contribute to several crucial metabolic processes, such as facilitation of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO) and removal of reactive oxygen species through catalase or plasmalogen synthesis. Statins are known to prevent hepatic steatosis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but underlying mechanisms of this prevention are largely unknown.
Seven-week-old C57BL/6J mice were given normal chow or a methionine- and choline-deficient diet (MCDD) with or without various statins, fluvastatin, pravastatin, simvastatin, atorvastatin, and rosuvastatin (15 mg/kg/day), for 6 weeks. Histological lesions were analyzed by grading and staging systems of NASH. We also measured mitochondrial and peroxisomal FAO in the liver.
Statin treatment prevented the development of MCDD-induced NASH. Both steatosis and inflammation or fibrosis grades were significantly improved by statins compared with MCDD-fed mice. Gene expression levels of peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) were decreased by MCDD and recovered by statin treatment. MCDD-induced suppression of mitochondrial and peroxisomal FAO was restored by statins. Each statin's effect on increasing FAO and improving NASH was independent on its effect of decreasing cholesterol levels.
Statins prevented NASH and increased mitochondrial and peroxisomal FAO via induction of PPARα. The ability to increase hepatic FAO is likely the major determinant of NASH prevention by statins. Improvement of peroxisomal function by statins may contribute to the prevention of NASH.
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Elevated serum levels of growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) are associated with type 2 diabetes. Therefore, the effects of atorvastatin on metabolic parameters and GDF-15 levels in patients with type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia were evaluated.
In this prospective randomized trial from February 2013 to March 2014, 50 consecutive type 2 diabetic patients with a low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels ≥100 mg/dL were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups based on the amount of atorvastatin prescribed, 10 mg/day (
The baseline metabolic parameters and GDF-15 levels were not significantly different between the two groups. After 8 weeks of treatment, the total cholesterol (TC) and LDL-C levels were significantly decreased in both groups. The mean changes in TC and LDL-C levels were more significant in the 40 mg atorvastatin group. The GDF-15 level was decreased in the 10 mg atorvastatin group, from 1,460.6±874.8 to 1,451.0±770.8 pg/mL, and was increased in the 40 mg atorvastatin group, from 1,271.6±801.0 to 1,341.4±855.2 pg/mL. However, the change in the GDF-15 level was not statistically significant in the 10 or 40 mg atorvastatin group (
The GDF-15 levels were not significantly changed after an 8-week treatment with atorvastatin in type 2 diabetic patients.
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Cystatin C has been known to be associated not only with early renal impairment but also with the incidence of diabetic conditions (prediabetes plus diabetes). However, it is not clear whether cystatin C levels are associated with the prevalence of diabetic conditions in Asian populations. We evaluated this association using glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels as the definition of diabetes in Korean adults.
We analyzed data from 1,559 Korean adults (937 men and 622 women) with available serum cystatin C and HbA1c values.
The serum cystatin C levels in subjects with prediabetes and diabetes were significantly increased (0.91±0.14 mg/L in prediabetes and 0.91±0.17 mg/L in diabetes vs. 0.88±0.13 mg/L in patients with normal glucose levels,
Higher levels of serum cystatin C are associated with an increased prevalence of diabetic conditions in Korean adults. Our findings may extend the positive association of cystatin C with diabetes incidence to an Asian population.
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Glucose and lipid metabolism are linked to each other in many ways. The most important clinical manifestation of this interaction is diabetic dyslipidemia, characterized by elevated triglycerides, low high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and predominance of small-dense LDL particles. However, in the last decade we have learned that the interaction is much more complex. Hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL-C cannot only be the consequence but also the cause of a disturbed glucose metabolism. Furthermore, it is now well established that statins are associated with a small but significant increase in the risk for new onset diabetes. The underlying mechanisms are not completely understood but modulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG CoA)-reductase may play a central role as genetic data indicate that mutations resulting in lower HMG CoA-reductase activity are also associated with obesity, higher glucose concentrations and diabetes. Very interestingly, this statin induced increased risk for new onset type 2 diabetes is not detectable in subjects with familial hypercholesterolemia. Furthermore, patients with familial hypercholesterolemia seem to have a lower risk for type 2 diabetes, a phenomenon which seems to be dose-dependent (the higher the low density lipoprotein cholesterol, the lower the risk). Whether there is also an interaction between lipoprotein(a) and diabetes is still a matter of debate.
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Accurate renal function measurements are important in the diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases. In contrast to creatinine, the production of serum cystatin C has been extensively reported to be unaffected by body muscle mass, age, gender, and nutritional status.
Our study included 37 samples from diabetic chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients for whom serum creatinine tests had been requested and 40 samples from a healthy populations in Dong-A University Hospital between May 2010 and June 2010. The assay precision (i.e., the coefficient of variation) and the reference range of the serum cystatin C test were evaluated. We compared the estimated glomerular filtration rates (GFRs) based on cystatin C with those based on creatinine. Moreover, we investigated the influences of age, gender, weight, and muscle mass on serum creatinine and serum cystatin C.
There was a positive correlation between GFR based on creatinine and that based on cystatin C (
Based on these results, we conclude that, despite the strong correlation between serum creatinine and cystatin C, cystatin C is less affected by weight and muscle mass and might represent a better alternative for the assessment of renal function.
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