Effect of Fenofibrate Therapy on Laser Treatment for Diabetic Retinopathy: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Diabetic eye disease (retinopathy and maculopathy) remains a leading cause of blindness and impaired vision, and it is also the only major cause that is increasing in most regions of the world (1). While good control of blood glucose and blood pressure modestly reduces the risk and progression of microvascular disease, these approaches can be difficult to achieve, require monitoring, and may have undesired side effects. Fenofibrate is an inexpensive lipid-modifying agent that activates the peroxisome proliferator –activated receptor α, thereby lowering circulating triglycerides and modestly raising HDL cholesterol. A hypothesis-generating tertiary outcome of a major cardiovascular trial suggested that prolonged fenofibrate therapy reduces the need for retinal laser treatment (2), and a substudy with a composite diabetes eye outcome, embedded within another trial, further supported this hypothesis (3). No data are available from major trials of other fibrates. The primary aim of this analysis was to evaluate the effect of prolonged treatment with fenofibrate on the need for laser treatment of diabetic eye disease in major trials conducted in participants with type 2 diabetes.
Source: Diabetes Care - Category: Endocrinology Source Type: research