Study Indicates Diabetes Drug Avandia and Actos Double the Risk of Heart Failure



(CardiovascularWeb News)

FRIDAY, July 27, 2007



Today, a study in Diabetes Care reported that patients taking either of the diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone)

and Actos (pioglitazone) have twice the risk of suffering from heart failure than people not on the drugs.



Both drugs are prescribed for type 2 diabetes and belong to the same family of drugs known as

thiazolidinediones.



This study1 is led by Dr. Sonal Singh of Wake Forest University in North Carolina. In this report, a

meta-analysis of 3 randomized controlled trials showed a 2.1 times higher risk for patients to have heart failure

in patients on thiazolidinediones.



Avandia (GlaxoSmithKline) and Actos (Takeda) decrease insulin resistance suffered by type 2 diabetic patients

by binding and activating the peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor (PPARs) located on the cell nucleus

membrane. The activation of PPARs leads to the production of insulin dependent enzyme and thus more

efficient use of glucose in patients. However, there is now a concern that these drugs may increase the rate of

heart failure.



The Food and Drug Administration will be holding a review with outside experts on July 30 to determine the

safety of the drugs and whether any of the drugs should be pulled from the market.



1Sonal Singh, Yoon K. Loke, and Curt D. Furberg. Thiazolidinediones and Heart Failure: A teleo-analysis.

Diabetes Care 2007 30: 2148-2153.

