A new study reveals that a blood test may be able to predict the risk of diabetes patients developing heart and kidney disease.
The researchers found that high levels of four biomarkers, which are strongly predictive of the development of heart and kidney problems in people with type 2 diabetes.
The study revealed that those who took a drug called canagliflozin (which is sold under the brand name Infokana, among others, a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes) had lower levels of all four biomarkers than those who took a placebo.
The treatment helped significantly reduce the risk of hospitalization for heart failure and other heart complications among patients considered to be at highest risk.
“High levels of certain biomarkers are indicators of cardiac and renal complications, and may help predict future risk of disease progression,” added lead author James Januzzi, Hutter University Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in the US. Treatment with canagliflozin, an SGLT2 inhibitor ( Cotransporter Nadium/Glucose 2), lowers biomarker levels and reduces the risk of hospitalization for heart failure and other heart complications in high-risk individuals.
Doctors regularly use a blood test to measure vital signs to screen, diagnose or treat certain conditions. Previous research has shown that concentrations of certain biomarkers may predict the onset and progression of chronic kidney disease as well as heart disease in people with type 2 diabetes.
The researchers analyzed blood samples from 2,627 people participating in the Canagliflozin and Diabetic Renal Events with Clinical Evaluation of Credence trial in the US.
They looked at the effects of canagliflozin on the concentrations of the four biomarkers from the start of the study, then after one year and after three years.
The team examined how effective each biomarker was at indicating different levels of kidney problems and risk of dying from kidney disease or cardiovascular disease. Patients were divided into low, intermediate and high risk categories.
Those at highest risk showed significantly higher rates of progressive kidney failure and cardiovascular complications throughout the three-year study period.
According to results published in the journal Circulation, high concentrations of each biomarker at the beginning of the study were strongly predictive of a patient's risk of heart and kidney problems.
Concentrations of each of the four biomarkers in people who took canagliflozin were lower after one and three years compared to those who took placebo.
After one year, levels of all biomarkers in people who took canagliflozin increased by 3% to 10%, compared with a 6% to 29% increase in those who did not take the drug.
“It was reassuring to find that canagliflozin helped further reduce risk in people with the highest chances of developing disease complications,” said Dr. Januzzi, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and director of the Heart Failure and Biomarker Trials at the BAIM Clinical Research Institute in Boston.
He added: "Future studies are needed to better understand how type 2 diabetes develops in conjunction with kidney disease so that we can start life-saving treatments early, before symptoms of heart and kidney disease appear."
Source: Independentm-Publication date: 08/24/2023
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