Clinical Impact of Dysglycemia in Patients with an Acute Myocardial Infarction

Fenofibrate add-on to statin treatment is associated with low all-cause death and cardiovascular disease in the general population with high triglyceride levels

BACKGROUND

We investigated the effects of fenofibrate add-on to statin treatment on all-cause death and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the general population who had high triglyceride (TG).

METHODS

We performed a population-based cohort study using data from the Korea National Health Information Database for 2010 to 2017. Among participants who had already used statins and had TG ≥ 150 mg/dL, 277,836 fenofibrate users were identified and compared with 277,836 fenofibrate non-users with 1:1 age- and sex-adjusted matching.

RESULTS

During a mean 4.13-year follow-up, the incidences per 1000 person years of all-cause death and CVD were lower in fenofibrate users than in fenofibrate non-users (4.812 vs. 5.354 for all-cause death, P < 0.0001; 6.283 vs. 6.420 for CVD, P < 0.0001). The hazard ratios (HR) for all-cause death and CVD among fenofibrate users were 0.826 (95 % CI 0.795-0.858) and 0.929 (95 % CI 0.898-0.962), respectively. In addition, 73.35 % of participants did not have diabetes and fenofibrate showed consistently beneficial effects on all-cause death or CVD in patients with and without diabetes. Use of fenofibrate for more than one year was associated with low risk for both all-cause death (HR 0.618) and CVD (HR 0.853), but use of fenofibrate for less than one year was not.

CONCLUSIONS

Fenofibrate as an add-on to statin treatment was associated with low risk of all-cause death and CVD in general population who had high TG. These beneficial effects were consistent regardless of the presence of diabetes, but at least one year of fenofibrate use was needed.

Association of admission hyperglycemia and all-cause mortality in acute myocardial infarction with percutaneous coronary intervention: A dose–response meta-analysis

Objective

The aim of this study is to evaluate the associations between admission hyperglycemia and the risk of all-cause mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with or without diabetes, to find optimal admission glucose intervention cut-offs, and to clarify the shape of the dose–response relations.

Methods

Medline/PubMed and EMBASE were searched from inception to 1 April 2022. Cohort studies reporting estimates of all-cause mortality risk in patients with admission hyperglycemia with AMI were included. The outcomes of interest include mortality and major adverse cardiac events (MACEs). A random effect dose–response meta-analysis was conducted to access linear trend estimations. A one-stage linear mixed effect meta-analysis was used for estimating dose–response curves. Relative risks and 95% confidence intervals were pooled using a random-effects model.

Results

Of 1,222 studies screened, 47 full texts were fully reviewed for eligibility. The final analyses consisted of 23 cohort studies with 47,177 participants. In short-term follow-up, admission hyperglycemia was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (relative risk: 3.12, 95% confidence interval 2.42–4.02) and MACEs (2.34, 1.77–3.09). In long-term follow-up, admission hyperglycemia was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (1.97, 1.61–2.41) and MACEs (1.95, 1.21–3.14). A linear dose–response association was found between admission hyperglycemia and the risk of all-cause mortality in patients with or without diabetes.

Conclusion

Admission hyperglycemia was significantly associated with higher all-cause mortality risk and rates of MACEs. However, the association between admission hyperglycemia and long-term mortality risk needs to be determined with caution. Compared with current guidelines recommendations, a lower intervention cut-off and more stringent targets for admission hyperglycemia may be appropriate.

Systematic review registration

[https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022317280], identifier [CRD42022317280].

Optimal Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels in Adults Without Diabetes Mellitus: A Nationwide Population-Based Study Including More Than 4 Million Individuals From South Korea

Background

Although the strong association between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is well-known, the threshold LDL-C level at which the risk of CVD begins to increase in individuals without diabetes mellitus (DM) remains unknown. We aimed to evaluate the association between incident CVD and serum LDL-C levels with or without statin use in individuals without DM.

Methods

We identified 4,182,117 individuals without previous CVD who underwent a health screening examination in 2009 and 2011 from the Korean National Health Insurance Cohort database. The primary endpoint was a composite of cardiovascular deaths, myocardial infarction (MI) cases, and ischemic stroke cases.

Results

During the median follow-up of 6 years, there were 51,961 CVD events that included 17,392 MI cases, 33,779 ischemic stroke cases, and 2,039 cardiovascular deaths. The LDL-C levels that were associated with an increased risk of CVD were ≥100 mg/dL in non-statin users and ≥130 mg/dL in statin users. However, even in individuals with lower LDL-C levels, all those with fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels ≥110 mg/dL had a significantly higher risk of CVD.

Conclusions

We demonstrated that LDL-C levels ≥100 mg/dL were correlated with an increased risk of CVD in individuals without DM and a history of CVD. We found that a glucose, cholesterol interaction increased CVD risk, and modestly elevated FPG levels (110–125 mg/dL) were associated with a higher CVD risk even in individuals with well-controlled LDL-C levels.

Long-term effects of the mean hemoglobin A1c levels after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with diabetes

BACKGROUND/AIMS

The clinical benefit of strict blood glucose-lowering therapy for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) is still debated. We aimed to evaluate the long-term outcomes of patients with diabetes who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), according to the mean hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level after PCI.

METHODS

We evaluated 675 diabetes patients with CAD treated with PCI. We categorized the study population into three groups based on the mean observed HbA1c levels during the follow-up duration, as follows: aggressive control (AC) group (HbA1c level < 6.5%, n = 148), moderate control (MC) group (HbA1c level ≥ 6.5% and < 7.0%, n = 138), and uncontrolled (UC) group (HbA1c level ≥ 7.0%, n = 389). The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs), defined as cardiac death, myocardial infarction, repeat target vessel revascularization, and stroke.

RESULTS

The mean HbA1c level of the AC group was significantly lower than that of the MC and UC groups (6.04% ± 0.36% vs. 6.74% ± 0.14% vs. 8.39% ± 1.20%, p < 0.001). The incidence of MACCEs was significantly lower in the AC group than in the MC and UC groups (16.0% vs. 24.3% vs. 26.3%, p = 0.010), mostly driven by the incidence of stroke (4.4% vs. 14.0% vs. 11.4%, p = 0.013). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that only the AC group was associated with a reduced rate of MACCEs (hazard ratio, 0.499; 95% confidence interval, 0.316 to 0.786; p = 0.004) compared with the UC group.

CONCLUSION

Our study showed that intensive glycemic control (HbA1c level < 6.5%) is associated with improved clinical outcomes after PCI in patients with diabetes.

The Effects of Glucose Lowering Agents on the Secondary Prevention of Coronary Artery Disease in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

BACKGROUND

Patients with diabetes have a higher risk of requiring repeated percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) than non-diabetic patients. We aimed to evaluate and compare the effects of anti-diabetic drugs on the secondary prevention of myocardial infarction among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

METHODS

We analyzed the general health check-up dataset and claims data of the Korean National Health Insurance Service of 199,714 participants (age ≥30 years) who underwent PCIs between 2010 and 2013. Those who underwent additional PCI within 1 year of their first PCI (n=3,325) and those who died within 1 year (n=1,312) were excluded. Patients were classified according to their prescription records for glucose-lowering agents. The primary endpoint was the incidence rate of coronary revascularization.

RESULTS

A total of 35,348 patients were included in the study. Metformin significantly decreased the risk of requiring repeat PCI in all patients (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.77). In obese patients with body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m2, patients treated with thiazolidinedione (TZD) exhibited a decreased risk of requiring repeat revascularization than those who were not treated with TZD (aHR, 0.77; 95% confidence interval, 0.63 to 0.95). Patients treated with metformin showed a decreased risk of requiring revascularization regardless of their BMI. Insulin, meglitinide, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitor were associated with increased risk of repeated PCI.

CONCLUSION

The risk of requiring repeat revascularization was lower in diabetic patients treated with metformin and in obese patients treated with TZD. These results suggest that physicians should choose appropriate glucose-lowering agents for the secondary prevention of coronary artery disease.

Effect of Admission Hyperglycemia on Short-Term Prognosis of Patients with Non-ST Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome without Diabetes Mellitus

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effect of admission hyperglycemia on the short-term prognosis of patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) without diabetes mellitus.

METHODS

The clinical data of 498 patients with NSTE-ACS admitted to the Department of Cardiology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology between March 2018 and November 2020 were analyzed. Based on the blood glucose (BG) level at admission, patients were divided into three groups: A (BG < 7.8 mmol/L), B (7.8 mmol/L ≤ BG < 11.1 mmol/L), and C (BG ≥ 11.1 mmol/L). The clinical data of the three groups were compared.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference between the three groups in terms of age, sex, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, and history of myocardial infarction (p > 0.05). However, there were significant differences in the incidences of multivessel disease, renal insufficiency, pump failure, and emergency percutaneous coronary intervention, and levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, cardiac troponin T, and creatine kinase isoenzyme MB among the three groups (p < 0.05 for all). The incidences of severe pump failure, malignant arrhythmias, and death were significantly higher in groups B and C compared to group A (p < 0.05). Additionally, the incidences of severe pump failure, malignant arrhythmias, and death were significantly higher in group C compared to group B (p < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that hyperglycemia, renal insufficiency, Killip grade III/IV, and age were risk factors of in-hospital death.

CONCLUSION

Hyperglycemia at admission is a risk factor for adverse in-hospital clinical outcomes in patients with NSTE-ACS.