Glucose Best Predicts Diabetes in Hypertension Patients

Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) may be the best predictor of risk of new-onset diabetes in hypertension patients, according to a subgroup analysis of data from a major trial.

Analysis of patients who developed diabetes during the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial-Blood Pressure Lowering Arm (ASCOT-BPLA) has allowed investigators to create a risk score that appears to discriminate those at highest risk for development of new-onset diabetes (NOD) during antihypertensive therapy. The analysis was presented in September 2006 in Barcelona (Spain) at the World Congress of Cardiology 2006 by Ajay K. Gupta, M.D., from Imperial College London (UK).

At baseline, 14,120 of the ASCOT patients were not diabetic, but after five-and-a-half years of follow-up 1,366 patients developed diabetes. FPG was the most robust risk factor and antihypertensive therapy with amlodipine with or without perindopril was the strongest protective factor among baseline predictors of NOD. High body-mass index (BMI), low HDL (high-density lipoprotein)-cholesterol (HDL-C), and high triglyceride levels were also important baseline predictors. By contrast, Dr. Gupta said that high HDL-C, age (more than 55 years old), and moderate alcohol use significantly reduced the risk of new-onset diabetes.

The analysis by Dr. Gupta may provide the basis for accurately predicting new-onset diabetes risk in patients with hypertension, but the associations need to be confirmed in other trials.



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Imperial College London