EFFECT OF STATIN THERAPY IN PRE-DIABETIC STATUS EVALUATED BY CORONARY ANGIOSCOPY

Abstract

Aggressive lipid-lowering therapy by statins is recommended for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events in diabetes patients. Although atherosclerotic change has been shown to progress in pre-diabetic patients, the effect of statins in pre-diabetic patients is not well known. We compared the degree of atherosclerosis in pre-diabetic patients with and without statin therapy using coronary angioscopy. Twenty-eight pre-diabetic patients underwent angioscopic multi-vessel evaluation of the coronary arteries. The color grade of yellow plaque was defined as 1 (light yellow), 2 (yellow), or 3 (intense yellow) based on semiquantitative analysis of angioscopic findings. The number of yellow plaques (NYP) per vessel and the maximum yellow grade (MYG) were compared between patients with and without statin therapy (statin group and non-statin group, respectively). Baseline characteristics including serum levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were similar between the two groups. Mean NYP and MYG were significantly lower in the statin group than in the non-statin group (2.03 ± 0.59 vs. 1.12 ± 0.73, P = 0.002; and 2.50 ± 0.71 vs. 1.72 ± 0.83, P = 0.019; respectively). The coronary angioscopic findings in the present study suggest that statin therapy plays an important role in inhibiting atherosclerotic progression in pre-diabetic patients. From the viewpoint of preventive medicine, statins may be administered in the early stage of glucose metabolism disorder.