VADT
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Clinical Question
Among individuals with poorly-controlled T2DM, does intensive glycemic control reduce the risk of macrovascular complications?
Bottom Line
Intensive glycemic control with rosiglitazone and insulin had no significant impact on mortality, macrovascular, or microvascular endpoints in T2DM.
Major Points
Some 60% of type 2 diabetics die of cardiovascular (CV) complications; thus many diabetes initiatives seek to investigate the role of glycemic control in reducing the risk of these macrovascular events. Several trials in T2DM have studied the impact of intensive glycemic therapy on macrovascular and microvascular outcomes, often with mixed results. UKPDS 33 (1998), ACCORD (2008), ADVANCE (2008), and the Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial (VADT; 2009) were among the largest of these trials. UKPDS showed a similar reduction in microvascular complications, and was the first to demonstrate a nonsignificant trend towards reduced CV risks among those treated with intensive glycemic therapy. However, ACCORD failed to demonstrate a reduction in CV events with intensive therapy, and actually suggested that intensive therapy may be associated with increased mortality. Similarly, ADVANCE failed to demonstrate a CV benefit with intensive therapy; however, it did show a modest reduction in albuminuria, a surrogate for microvascular complications.
VADT studied a relatively homogeneous population of older men with poorly controlled T2DM (average hemoglobin A1C of 9.4%) and randomized them to intensive versus standard glucose control. Both groups had aggressive treatment of CVD risk factors with BP control, smoking cessation, aspirin therapy, and statin therapy. At median 5.6 years of follow-up, the intensive therapy group had a lower hemoglobin A1C than the standard therapy group (6.9% vs. 8.4%) but did not have an improvement in the primary outcome of time to first CV event. Furthermore, intensive therapy was associated with only a modest improvement in microvascular outcomes using the familiar surrogate marker, albuminuria. Intensive therapy came at the expense of more hypoglycemic episodes, including coma. However, a post hoc analysis has suggested that those with shorter duration of diabetes (less than 12 years) gained benefit from intensive therapy while those with longstanding disease derived no benefit or were harmed.[1] Additional analyses demonstrated added CVD risk for those with hypoglycemia and benefit for those with low (but not high) coronary calcification scores.[1]
Ten-year follow up of UKPDS[2] and VADT[3] demonstrated a CVD benefit with intensive glycemic therapy.
Guidelines
ADA Medical Care in DM (2013)[4]
- Goal A1C <7% in non-pregnant adults to reduce microvascular and macrovascular disease complications (level B)
- Goal A1C <6.5% for selected patients, provided no hypoglycemia or other adverse events (level C)
- Goal A1C <8% for those with previous severe hypoglycemia, limited life expectancy, advanced microvascular or macrovascular complications, comorbidities, and long-standing difficult-to-control DM despite appropriate education and multiple agents including insulin (level B)
Design
- Multi-center, double-blind, parallel-group, randomized, placebo-controlled trial
- N=673 (at follow-up)
- Intensive (n=344)
- Conventional (n=329)
- Setting: 20 Veterans Affairs centers in the US
- Enrollment: December 2000 to May 2003
- Analysis: intention to treat
- Mean follow-up: 5.6 years
Population
Inclusion Criteria
- Adults with T2DM
- Inadequate response to max oral agent or insulin therapy
Exclusion Criteria
- HbA1c <7.5%
- CV event within prior 6 months
- Advanced CHF
- Severe angina
- Life expectancy <7 years
- BMI >40
- Cr >1.6
- ALT >3x ULN
Baseline Characteristics
From the intensive therapy group.
- Demographics: Age 60 years, male 97%, white and non-hispanic 60%, white and hispanic 17%, black 17.0%
- Time since DM diagnosis: 11.5 years
- PMH: CV event 39.8%, HTN 72%, current smoker 17%, former smoker 55%
- Health data: Weight 214 lbs, BMI 31.3 kg/m2, BP 131/76 mmHg
- Laboratory results: A1C 9.4%, Tchol 182 mg/dL, LDL 107 mg/dL, HDL 36 mg/dL, TG 201 mg/dL, creatinine 1.0 mg/dL
Interventions
- Randomly assigned to treatment, stratified by study site, prior macrovascular event, current insulin use
- In each group, treatment given according to BMI:
- BMI >27: metformin + rosiglitazone
- BMI <27: glimiperide + rosiglitazone
- Intensive group:
- Start on maximum doses
- If HbA1c >6%, insulin added
- Goal for HbA1c reduction by 1.5 absolute percentage points
- Conventional group:
- Start on half-maximum doses
- If HbA1c >9%, start insulin
- Comorbidities treated according to ADA guidelines for HTN, diet, exercise, diabetes education
- All patients received aspirin and statin unless contraindicated
Outcomes
Comparisons are 6-year event rates in intensive vs. conventional therapy groups.
Primary Outcomes
- Time to first CV event
CV event defined as MI, stroke, CV mortality, new or worsening HF, surgery for CV/cerebrovascular/peripheral vascular needs, inoperable CAD, or ischemic gangrene requiring amputation.
- No difference (HR for intensive group 0.88; 95% CI 0.74-1.05; P=0.14)
- Rate: 29.5% vs. 33.5% (P=NS)
Secondary Outcomes
- New or worsening angina
- 21% vs. 18% (HR 1.20; 95% CI 0.86-1.51; P=0.11)
- New TIA
- 3% vs. 2% (HR 1.48; 95% CI 0.73-2.99; P=0.28)
- New claudication
- 2% in each (HR 0.78; 95% CI 0.38-1.6; P=0.49)
- New critical limb ischemia
- 2% vs. 3% (HR 0.8; 95% CI 0.4-1.56; P=0.51)
- All-cause mortality
- 13% vs. 12% (HR 1.07; 95% CI, 0.81-1.42; P=0.62)
- Microvascular complications
- No difference in incidence of or progression to severe retinopathy, nephropathy, or neuropathy
Additional Analysis
- Hemoglobin A1c
- 6.9% vs. 8.4%
Adverse Events
Intensive therapy resulted in more frequent hypoglycemia (P<0.001).
Criticisms
- Rosiglitazone was used at higher doses for the Intervention group by protocol, which may have offset the positive effects of glycemic control by the drug's link to increased adverse cardiac events such as MI and CHF in other studies.
- Cannot easily extrapolate to women given 98% male population studied at these VA sites
- Underpowered given lower-than-expected event and higher-than-expected dropout rate[5]
Funding
Support provided by SanofiAventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Novo Nordisk, Roche, Kos Pharmaceuticals, and Amylin.
Further Reading
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Skyler JS et al. "Intensive glycemic control and the prevention of cardiovascular events: implications of the ACCORD, ADVANCE, and VA diabetes trials: a position statement of the American Diabetes Association and a scientific statement of the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association." Diabetes Care 2009;32(1):187-192.
- ↑ Holman RR et al. "10-year follow-up of intensive glucose control in type 2 diabetes." The New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;359(15):1577-1589.
- ↑ Hayward RA, et al. "Follow-up of glycemic control and cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes." The New England Journal of Medicine. 2015;372(23):2197-2206.
- ↑ Multiple authors. "Executive summary: Standards of medical care in diabetes--2013" Diabetes Care 2013;36(supp 1):s4-s10.
- ↑ Multiple authors. "Correspondence: Glucose control and vascular complications in type 2 diabetes." The New England Journal of Medicine. 2009;360:2031-2032.