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Oral antiplatelet therapy in diabetes mellitus and the role of prasugrel: an overview

Authors Hillegass B, Brott BC, Dobbs JC, Papapietro SE, Misra VK, Zoghbi GJ

Published 18 July 2011 Volume 2011:7 Pages 445—459

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/VHRM.S4746

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



William B Hillegass1, Brigitta C Brott2, James C Dobbs2, Silvio E Papapietro2, Vijay K Misra2, Gilbert J Zoghbi2
1
Columbiana Cardiovascular Consultants, Columbiana, AL, USA; 2Interventional Cardiovascular Section, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA

Abstract: Diabetics have a prothrombotic state that includes increased platelet reactivity. This contributes to the less favorable clinical outcomes observed in diabetics experiencing acute coronary syndromes as well as stable coronary artery disease. Many diabetics are relatively resistant to or have insufficient response to several antithrombotic agents. In the setting of percutaneous coronary intervention, hyporesponsiveness to clopidogrel is particularly common among diabetics. Several strategies have been examined to further enhance the benefits of oral antiplatelet therapy in diabetics. These include increasing the dose of clopidogrel, triple antiplatelet therapy with cilostazol, and new agents such as prasugrel. The large TRITON TIMI 38 randomized trial compared clopidogrel to prasugrel in the setting of percutaneous coronary intervention for acute coronary syndromes. The diabetic subgroup (n = 3146) experienced considerable incremental benefit with a 4.8% reduction in cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and nonfatal stroke at 15-month follow-up with prasugrel treatment. Among diabetics on insulin this combined endpoint was reduced by 7.9% at 15 months. Major bleeding was not increased in the diabetic subgroup. This confirms the general hypothesis that more potent oral antiplatelet therapy can partially overcome the prothrombotic milieu and safely improve important clinical outcomes in diabetics.

Keywords: percutaneous coronary intervention, acute coronary syndromes, diabetes mellitus, prasugrel, antithrombotic agents

 

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