Association of Intensive Lifestyle Intervention, Fitness, and Body Mass Index With Risk of Heart Failure in Overweight or Obese Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: An Analysis From the Look AHEAD Trial

5. Facilitating Behavior Change and Well-being to Improve Health Outcomes: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes-2021

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes" includes the ADA's current clinical practice recommendations and is intended to provide the components of diabetes care, general treatment goals and guidelines, and tools to evaluate quality of care. Members of the ADA Professional Practice Committee, a multidisciplinary expert committee (https://doi.org/10.2337/dc21-SPPC), are responsible for updating the Standards of Care annually, or more frequently as warranted. For a detailed description of ADA standards, statements, and reports, as well as the evidence-grading system for ADA's clinical practice recommendations, please refer to the Standards of Care Introduction (https://doi.org/10.2337/dc21-SINT). Readers who wish to comment on the Standards of Care are invited to do so at professional.diabetes.org/SOC.

Diabetes Mellitus Is a Chronic Disease that Can Benefit from Therapy with Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality, with an increasing incidence worldwide. The impact of DM on public health in developing countries has triggered alarm due to the exaggerated costs of the treatment and monitoring of patients with this disease. Considerable efforts have been made to try to prevent the onset and reduce the complications of DM. However, because insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells progressively deteriorate, many people must receive insulin through subcutaneous injection. Additionally, current therapies do not have consistent results regarding the prevention of chronic complications. Leveraging the approval of real-time continuous glucose monitors and sophisticated algorithms that partially automate insulin infusion pumps has improved glycemic control, decreasing the burden of diabetes management. However, these advances are facing physiologic barriers. New findings in molecular and cellular biology have produced an extraordinary advancement in tissue development for the treatment of DM. Obtaining pancreatic β-cells from somatic cells is a great resource that currently exists for patients with DM. Although this therapeutic option has great prospects for patients, some challenges remain for this therapeutic plan to be used clinically. The purpose of this review is to describe the new techniques in cell biology and regenerative medicine as possible treatments for DM. In particular, this review highlights the origin of induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs) and how they have begun to emerge as a regenerative treatment that may mitigate the pathology of this disease.

Association of Baseline and Longitudinal Changes in Body Composition Measures With Risk of Heart Failure and Myocardial Infarction in Type 2 Diabetes: Findings From the Look AHEAD Trial

BACKGROUND

Intentional weight loss is associated with lower risk of heart failure (HF) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease among patients with type 2 diabetes. However, the contribution of baseline measures and longitudinal changes in fat mass (FM), lean mass (LM), and waist circumference (WC) to the risk of HF and myocardial infarction (MI) in type 2 diabetes is not well established.

METHODS

Adults from the Look AHEAD trial (Action for Health in Diabetes) without prevalent HF were included. FM and LM were predicted using validated equations and compared with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry measurements in a subgroup. Adjusted Cox models were used to evaluate the associations of baseline and longitudinal changes in FM, LM, and WC over 1- and 4-year follow-up with risk of overall HF, HF with preserved ejection fraction (EF; EF ≥50%), HF with reduced EF (EF <50%), and MI.

RESULTS

Among 5103 participants, there were 257 incident HF events over 12.4 years of follow-up. Predicted and measured FM/LM were highly correlated (R²=0.87-0.90; n=1369). FM and LM decreased over 4-year follow-up with greater declines in the intensive lifestyle intervention arm. In adjusted analysis, baseline body composition measures were not significantly associated with HF risk. Decline in FM and WC, but not LM, over 1 year were each significantly associated with lower risk of overall HF (adjusted hazard ratio per 10% decrease in FM, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.68-0.95]; adjusted hazard ratio per 10% decrease in WC, 0.77 [95% CI, 0.62-0.95]). Decline in FM was significantly associated with lower risk of both HF subtypes. In contrast, decline in WC was significantly associated with lower risk of HF with preserved EF but not HF with reduced EF. Similar patterns of association were observed for 4-year changes in body composition and HF risk. Longitudinal changes in body composition were not significantly associated with risk of MI.

CONCLUSIONS

In adults with type 2 diabetes, a lifestyle intervention is associated with significant loss of FM and LM. Declines in FM and WC, but not LM, were each significantly associated with lower risk of HF but not MI. Furthermore, decline in WC was significantly associated with lower risk of HF with preserved EF but not HF with reduced EF. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT00017953.

Type 2 diabetes is an independent predictor of lowered peak aerobic capacity in heart failure patients with non-reduced or reduced left ventricular ejection fraction

Background

Although type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the most frequent comorbidities in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), the effects of T2DM on the exercise capacity of CHF patients are fully unknown. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the coexistence of T2DM lowers CHF patients’ peak aerobic capacity.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed the cases of 275 Japanese CHF patients with non-reduced ejection fraction (left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] ≥ 40%) or reduced EF (LVEF < 40%) who underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing. We divided them into diabetic and nondiabetic groups in each CHF cohort.

Results

The mean peak oxygen uptake (VO₂) value was 16.87 mL/kg/min in the non-reduced LVEF cohort and 15.52 mL/kg/min in the reduced LVEF cohort. The peak VO₂ was lower in the diabetics versus the nondiabetics in the non-reduced LVEF cohort with the mean difference (95% confidence interval [95% CI]) of − 0.93 (− 1.82 to − 0.04) mL/kg/min and in the reduced LVEF cohort with the mean difference of − 1.05 (− 1.96 to − 0.15) mL/kg/min, after adjustment for age-squared, gender, anemia, renal function, LVEF, and log B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP). The adjusted VO₂ at anaerobic threshold (AT), a submaximal aerobic capacity, was also decreased in the diabetic patients with both non-reduced and reduced LVEFs. Intriguingly, the diabetic patients had a lower adjusted peak O₂ pulse than the nondiabetic patients in the reduced LVEF cohort, but not in the non-reduced LVEF cohort. A multivariate analysis showed that the presence of T2DM was an independent predictor of lowered peak VO₂ in CHF patients with non-reduced LVEF and those with reduced LVEF.

Conclusions

T2DM was associated with lowered peak VO₂ in CHF patients with non-reduced or reduced LVEF. The presence of T2DM has a negative impact on CHF patients’ exercise capacity, and the degree of impact is partly dependent on their LV systolic function.

Type 2 diabetes and reduced exercise tolerance: a review of the literature through an integrated physiology approach

The association between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and heart failure (HF) is well established. Early in the course of the diabetic disease, some degree of impaired exercise capacity (a powerful marker of health status with prognostic value) can be frequently highlighted in otherwise asymptomatic T2DM subjects. However, the literature is quite heterogeneous, and the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms are far from clear. Imaging-cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a non-invasive, provocative test providing a multi-variable assessment of pulmonary, cardiovascular, muscular, and cellular oxidative systems during exercise, capable of offering unique integrated pathophysiological information. With this review we aimed at defying the cardiorespiratory alterations revealed through imaging-CPET that appear specific of T2DM subjects without overt cardiovascular or pulmonary disease. In synthesis, there is compelling evidence indicating a reduction of peak workload, peak oxygen assumption, oxygen pulse, as well as ventilatory efficiency. On the contrary, evidence remains inconclusive about reduced peripheral oxygen extraction, impaired heart rate adjustment, and lower anaerobic threshold, compared to non-diabetic subjects. Based on the multiparametric evaluation provided by imaging-CPET, a dissection and a hierarchy of the underlying mechanisms can be obtained. Here we propose four possible integrated pathophysiological mechanisms, namely myocardiogenic, myogenic, vasculogenic and neurogenic. While each hypothesis alone can potentially explain the majority of the CPET alterations observed, seemingly different combinations exist in any given subject. Finally, a discussion on the effects -and on the physiological mechanisms-of physical activity and exercise training on oxygen uptake in T2DM subjects is also offered. The understanding of the early alterations in the cardiopulmonary response that are specific of T2DM would allow the early identification of those at a higher risk of developing HF and possibly help to understand the pathophysiological link between T2DM and HF.

Association of Long-term Change and Variability in Glycemia With Risk of Incident Heart Failure Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Secondary Analysis of the ACCORD Trial

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the associations between long-term change and variability in glycemia with risk of heart failure (HF) among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Among participants with T2DM enrolled in the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial, variability in HbA_1c was assessed from stabilization of HbA_1c following enrollment (8 months) to 3 years of follow-up as follows: average successive variability (ASV) (average absolute difference between successive values), coefficient of variation (SD/mean), and SD. Participants with HF at baseline or within 3 years of enrollment were excluded. Adjusted Cox models were used to evaluate the association of percent change (from baseline to 3 years of follow-up) and variability in HbA_1c over the first 3 years of enrollment and subsequent risk of HF.

RESULTS

The study included 8,576 patients. Over a median follow-up of 6.4 years from the end of variability measurements at year 3, 388 patients had an incident HF hospitalization. Substantial changes in HbA_1c were significantly associated with higher risk of HF (hazard ratio [HR] for ≥10% decrease 1.32 [95% CI 1.08-1.75] and for ≥10% increase 1.55 [1.19-2.04]; reference <10% change in HbA_1c). Greater long-term variability in HbA_1c was significantly associated with higher risk of HF (HR per 1 SD of ASV 1.34 [95% CI 1.17-1.54]) independent of baseline risk factors and interval changes in cardiometabolic parameters. Consistent patterns of association were observed with use of alternative measures of glycemic variability.

CONCLUSIONS

Substantial long-term changes and variability in HbA_1c were independently associated with risk of HF among patients with T2DM.

Implications of obesity across the heart failure continuum

The obesity paradox, which suggests a survival advantage for the obese in heart failure (HF) has sparked debate in the medical community. Studies demonstrate a survival advantage in obese patients with HF, including those with advanced HF requiring continuous inotropic support for palliation or disease modifying therapy with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) or heart transplantation (HT). Importantly, the obesity paradox is affected by the level of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). It is now recommended that HF patients with body mass index ≥35 kg/m² achieve at least 5-10% weight loss, in order to improve symptoms and cardiac function, though more robust data are urgently needed. CRF may be the single best predictor of overall health and small improvements in fitness levels may lead to improved outcomes in HF. In addition to implications of obesity in chronic HF, we also discuss management of obese patients with advanced HF and their implications for therapies such as LVAD implantation and HT.