Background: In patients with coronary artery disease anti-inflammatory drugs have been shown to be effective in reducing cardiovascular events. The effect of this intervention in the population with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is poorly explored. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of anti-inflammatory therapy on the incidence of major cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with T2DM.
Methods: A meta-analysis of randomized studies that evaluated the use of anti-inflammatory therapy in patients with T2DM and reported MACE was performed, after searching the PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scielo, Google Scholar and Cochrane Controlled Trials databases. A fixed or random effects models were used.
Results: Five studies were selected for the analysis (2075 subjects in the anti-inflammatory therapy arm and 2490 patients in the placebo/control arm). All studies included patients with T2DM and history of coronary artery disease. Four studies evaluated the use of colchicine and one of them canakinumab. The use of anti-inflammatory therapy was associated with a lower risk of MACE (HR: 0.80; 95% CI, 0.69-0.93; I2 = 24%). The sensitivity analysis shows that the results are robust.
Conclusion: This meta-analysis demonstrated that the use of anti-inflammatory therapy in patients with T2DM and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease was associated with reduced risk of MACE. These results suggest the need to consider the inflammatory pathway as a potential therapeutic target in patients with T2DM.
Keywords: Anti-Inflammatory therapy; Canakinumab; Colchicine; Diabetes; Major cardiovascular events.
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