Pitavastatin better for dyslipidaemia control in T2DM patients with LEAD

Both pitavastatin and atorvastatin effectively reduce femoral total plaque area (FTPA) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with lower extremity atherosclerotic disease (LEAD), a new study has found. On the other hand, pitavastatin leads to better levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C).

The study included 63 T2DM patients with LEAD and elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Participants were randomly assigned to receive either 2 mg/d of pitavastatin (n=28) or 10 mg/d of atorvastatin (n=35). Treatment lasted for 48 weeks. The primary outcome, FTPA, was assessed through ultrasonography.

Both treatment arms saw significant and sustained reductions in LDL-C and FTPA. Those in the pitavastatin group saw a mean FTPA drop of 13.63±15.27 mm², while their atorvastatin comparators had an average reduction of 12.93±14.67 mm². The percentage of patients experiencing FTPA regression was 78.6 percent and 80.0 percent in the respective groups, and the overall treatment efficiency was 79.4 percent.

Both treatments likewise resulted in increasing HDL-C, though pitavastatin had a significantly stronger effect than atorvastatin (final HDL-C concentrations: 1.32±0.23 vs 1.22±0.26 mmol/L; p<0.05).

Both treatments likewise led to improvements in levels of triglycerides and total cholesterol, as well as glycated haemoglobin, fasting plasma glucose, standard deviation of blood glucose, and coefficient of variation of fasting blood glucose. No significant between-arm differences were observed for these measures.

“[W]e proposed that pitavastatin may be superior in the control of dyslipidaemia in diabetic patients with LEAD,” the researchers said.