Incidence of new-onset diabetes with 1 mg versus 4 mg pitavastatin in patients at high risk of developing diabetes during a 3-year follow-up

Background: Statin therapy reduces the risk of cardiovascular events across a broad spectrum of patients; however, it increases the risk of new-onset diabetes (NOD). Although the highest dose pitavastatin is considered to not be associated with NOD, there are limited data regarding the impact of long-term highest dose pitavastatin use on the development of NOD in patients at high risk of developing diabetes. Therefore, we prospectively compared the differences in the development of NOD between the lowest and the highest dose of pitavastatin in patients at high risk of developing diabetes during a 3-year follow-up. Methods: This post hoc analysis of a prospective, single-blinded, randomized study compared the risk of NOD between the highest dose of pitavastatin (4 mg) and the lowest dose of pitavastatin (1 mg) over a 3-year follow-up in patients with acute coronary syndrome. Among 1044 patients of the original study, 667 patients at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus were in the subgroup analysis. The primary endpoint was a comparison of the differences in the cumulative incidence of NOD in the pitavastatin 1 mg and 4 mg groups during a 3-year follow-up. Results: With propensity score matching, there were no significant differences in baseline demographic characteristics between the 2 groups. Incidence of NOD was similar between the pitavastatin 1 mg and 4 mg groups [12 of 289 patients (4.2%) and 8 of 289 patients (2.8%), respectively; p = 0.36]. In a prespecified analysis, there were no significant differences in NOD events according to sex, age, diagnosis, body mass index, glucose intolerance, or dyslipidemia. Conclusions: Administration of highest-dose pitavastatin did not increase the risk of NOD in patients at high risk of developing diabetes during the 3-year follow-up. Moreover, various risk factors for NOD such as metabolic syndrome components, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, obesity, or hypertension did not affect the development of NOD during pitavastatin administration. Thus, the highest dose pitavastatin can be safely used in patients with metabolic syndrome who are at high risk of developing diabetes. Trial registration Clinical Trial registration information. URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02545231.