Exploring heart failure events in contemporary cardiovascular outcomes trials in type 2 diabetes mellitus

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and heart failure (HF) are closely related, with the onset of one serving as an independent risk factor for the development or progression of the other. The true impact of their relationship is poorly understood. Since various classes of glucose-lowering therapies have been shown to have differing impact on cardiovascular outcomes, cardiovascular effects of such therapies have been increasingly formally evaluated.

Areas covered: With the increasing prevalence of concomitant HF and type 2 DM, HF outcomes serve as important endpoints in trials of glucose-lowering therapies. A thorough literature search of recent cardiovascular outcome trials of glucose-lowering therapies was performed. The authors focus on the availability and extent of ascertainment of data related to HF outcomes in these contemporary clinical trial experiences.

Expert commentary: Although early cardiovascular outcome trials did not focus on HF events, these outcomes have been increasingly recognized as meaningful end points in cardiovascular outcome trials. The ascertainment of HF end point data needs to become routine and standardized.

KEYWORDS:

• Diabetes mellitus
• heart failure
• outcomes

Declaration of interest

S Vijayakumar has no conflicts to declare. Dr. Muthiah Vaduganathan is supported by the NHLBI T32 postdoctoral training grant (T32HL007604). J Butler has received research support from the National Institutes of Health and European Union; and has been a consultant for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CVRx, Janssen, Luitpold, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, Relypsa, StealthPeptide, Vifor, and ZS Pharma. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

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Funding

This paper was not funded.