Study backs niacin drug for diabetes

Agent appears to cut blood fats, reducing risk of heart disease

Reuters

CHICAGO, July 21 — A niacin drug appears to decrease fatty particles in the blood of adult-onset diabetes victims, lessening their chances of developing heart disease, researchers reported Sunday.
THE STUDY was sponsored by the manufacturer of the drug, Florida-based Kos Pharmaceuticals Inc. The company said it has asked for regulatory approval to expand the recommended uses for the drug, which it markets as Niaspan.
Researchers at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, writing in the Archives of Internal Medicine, said they based their findings on a study of 146 diabetes patients who were given either the extended-release niacin drug at two levels of strength or an inert placebo.
The intent of the study was to test the effects of niacin on a condition called dyslipidemia, a blood lipid abnormality. It causes bad concentrations of triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol — or “bad” cholesterol — and low levels of the “good” cholesterol known as high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
The authors said the condition contributes to a two- to four-fold increased risk of coronary heart disease in those with adult onset diabetes compared to those without the disease.

‘GOOD’ CHOLESTEROL UP 13-24 PERCENT
The study found that “good” cholesterol increased between 13 percent and 24 percent depending on the strength of doses, that triglyceride was also reduced at high dose levels and that ”bad” cholesterol levels also fell.
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“As more is known about the nature of diabetic dyslipidemia and its impact on (heart disease) risk in patients with diabetes, optimal therapy should target all the abnormalities associated with diabetes,” the report said.
“This targeted approach may represent the best treatment strategy for achieving substantial reductions in the high and growing incidence of (heart disease) among patients with diabetes.”
The authors said extended-release niacin may be considered for use with statins — widely prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs — or “in some cases, without statins.”

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