Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Diabetes

Cardiovascular benefits of metformin in T1DM

Results from the Reducing with Metformin Vascular Adverse Lesions (REMOVAL) study show for the first time that metformin has a cardiovascular benefit in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), although the benefit was limited to tertiary outcomes and was modest. Additional measures are therefore needed to reduce cardiovascular disease in patients with T1DM.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Livingstone, S. J. et al. Risk of cardiovascular disease and total mortality in adults with type 1 diabetes: Scottish registry linkage study. PLoS Med. 9, e1001321 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Rawshani, A. et al. Mortality and cardiovascular disease in type 1 and type 2 diabetes. N. Engl. J. Med. 376, 1407–1418 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Lachin, J. M., Orchard, T. J., Nathan, D. M. & DCCT/EDIC Research Group. Update on cardiovascular outcomes at 30 years of the diabetes control and complications trial/epidemiology of diabetes interventions and complications study. Diabetes Care 37, 39–43 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Schauer, I. E. et al. Insulin resistance, defective insulin-mediated fatty acid suppression, and coronary artery calcification in subjects with and without type 1 diabetes: the CACTI study. Diabetes 60, 306–314 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Petrie, J. R. et al. Cardiovascular and metabolic effects of metformin in patients with type 1 diabetes (REMOVAL): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 5, 597–609 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Nadeau, K. J. et al. Insulin resistance in adolescents with type 1 diabetes and its relationship to cardiovascular function. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 95, 513–521 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Yki-Järvinen, H. & Koivisto, V. A. Natural course of insulin resistance in type I diabetes. N. Engl. J. Med. 315, 224–230 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. [No authors listed.] Standards of medical care in diabetes — 2017: summary of revisions. Diabetes Care 40, S4–S5 (2017).

  9. Livingstone, S. J. et al. Estimated life expectancy in a Scottish cohort with type 1 diabetes, 2008–2010. JAMA 313, 37–44 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Kaul, S. Mitigating cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes with antidiabetes drugs: a review of principal cardiovascular outcome results of EMPA-REG OUTCOME, LEADER, and SUSTAIN-6 trials. Diabetes Care 40, 821–831 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Support for this study was provided by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grant R01 HL113029 and American Diabetes Association grant 7-13-CD-10.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janet K. Snell-Bergeon.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Snell-Bergeon, J. Cardiovascular benefits of metformin in T1DM. Nat Rev Endocrinol 13, 565–566 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2017.116

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2017.116

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing