Results from one of the first studies comparing the lipid-lowering actions and glucose metabolisms of statins on diabetic patients with hyperlipidemia were presented on Aug. 31 as part of ESC Congress 2014.

The LISTEN Trial, which randomized 1,049 Japanese patients to rosuvastatin (5 mg/day) or atorvastatin (10 mg/day), found that rosuvastatin was less effective than atorvastatin in reducing non-HDL-C compared in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, rosuvastatin overall did reduce LDL-C significantly. In addition, the intensification of diabetic treatments was significantly less frequent in the rosuvastatin group than in the atorvastatin group (11.9 percent compared to 16.5 percent).

While the clinical benefit to prevent cardiovascular events by using statins in hypercholesterolemic patients with diabetes has been demonstrated in several randomized trials, based on these new findings, study investigators suggest further prospective studies are needed to confirm the differences in the effects on diabetes among statins.

Keywords: Pyrroles, Fluorobenzenes, Hyperlipidemias, Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Pyrimidines, Heptanoic Acids, Sulfonamides