- Metabolic risk factors increase diabetes risk in HIV patients
- Pitavastatin increased diabetes risk in those with multiple factors
- Obesity and prediabetes are key contributors to diabetes onset
Researchers have highlighted how metabolic risk factors, including prediabetes and obesity, contribute to the onset of diabetes in people with HIV treated with either statin or placebo.
A team from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School set out to explore the role that known diabetes risk factors play in increased diabetes risk among people with HIV being treated with pitavastatin.
The Randomised Trial to Prevent Vascular Events in HIV (REPRIEVE) trial involved just over 7,700 people with HIV aged from 40 to 75 with low-to-moderate atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk.
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The participants, none of whom had diabetes at the start of the study, were given either a daily 4mg dosage of pitavastatin or placebo.
The research team found that in both groups, those with at least three diabetes risk factors had an increased risk for diabetes compared to those with no risk factors.
The incidence rate in the pitavastatin group was 3.24 versus 0.34 per 100 person-years and 2.66 versus 0.27 per 100 person-years in the placebo group.
The authors said: “Metabolic risk factors, including prediabetes and obesity, contributed to new-onset diabetes in statin- and placebo-treated participants.
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“A clinically significant effect of pitavastatin on diabetes was seen primarily among those with multiple risk factors for diabetes at entry.
Strategies targeting key metabolic risk factors, like obesity and prediabetes, may help protect against diabetes among people with HIV.
“Together these data suggest the importance of implementing comprehensive risk reduction strategies for people with HIV with risk factors for diabetes, including dietary and exercise interventions.”
Researchers found the highest incidence of diabetes in South Asia, with high body mass index, prediabetes, and metabolic syndrome aspects strongly linked with onset diabetes.
