Reversal to Normoglycemia by Treating Prediabetes

Official title

REVERsal to Normoglycemia by Treating PREDIABETES: The REVERT-PREDIABETES Trial

Overview

Prediabetes is a precursor to diabetes, but compared with diabetes, much less is known about prediabetes. Prediabetes is defined based on a blood sample measuring long-term average glucose levels. In the Danish population, about 7% have prediabetes, and roughly one in five will develop diabetes within five years. In the US, significantly more people have this condition - about 38% of the adult population - and it is reasonable to expect a growing global prevalence over the years. Diabetes is associated with various microvascular diseases, traditionally referred to as diabetic complications, such as diabetic retinopathy, diabetic nephropathy, and diabetic neuropathy. However, it has been shown that some of these conditions are already present in some individuals with prediabetes, even though this condition does not meet the diagnostic criteria for diabetes. Several metabolic changes are often seen in people with prediabetes, including high cholesterol, hypertension, increased inflammatory markers, and obesity. Additionally, there is a possible link between prediabetes and the occurrence of fat accumulation in the liver. These risk factors are also believed to be associated with the development of coronary atherosclerosis. In individuals with coronary atherosclerosis there is an overrepresentation of prediabetes. Therefore, the investigators would like to investigate whether this group of people might benefit from having their long-term average glucose levels reduced to normal from prediabetes using glucose-lowering medication, which is approved for use in people with diabetes and has also shown a cardioprotective effect in individuals without diabetes. The medications that will be used for this purpose are: Semaglutide, administered once weekly as a subcutaneous injection. The dose will be gradually increased at 4-week intervals up to a maximum of 2.4 mg. If this is insufficient, it may be considered to start Dapagliflozin (Forxiga), 10 mg tablet daily. Both treatments are approved for use in Europe but are not currently used to treat prediabetes. A total of 108 individuals with prediabetes and coronary atherosclerosis who consent to participate in the trial will be randomly assigned (1:1) to two groups: 1. Interventional therapy arm: Participants will attend visits at Aarhus University Hospital and begin glucose-lowering treatment. Additionally, any hypertension or high cholesterol will be optimized according to current guidelines. They will be offered lifestyle counselling. Participants will have their blood pressure measured regularly and, if necessary, blood samples are drawn to optimize the above. 2. Conventional therapy arm: Participants will receive standard treatment either at the hospital or from their general practitioner, without any influence from the trial and without starting trial-related medication. Furthermore, a third group of 50 participants with coronary atherosclerosis and normal long-term average glucose levels will be included. All trial participants will, at inclusion, be examined for the presence of diabetic nephropathy, diabetic neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, and liver fat accumulation. This will be done through blood samples, urine samples, nerve examinations, and liver ultrasound. In addition, height, weight, waist circumference, body muscle and fat composition, pulse, and blood pressure will be measured. The third group will then conclude their participation. The interventional therapy arm will begin the described intervention, which lasts for one year. After one year, the intervention period will end. Both randomized groups will then be examined by blood samples, urine samples, liver ultrasound, height, weight, waist circumference, body muscle and fat composition, pulse, and blood pressure. One year later, the above examinations will be repeated, except for the liver ultrasound. This will mark the end of the trial.

Interventions

• Drug Intensified medical follow-up and glucose-lowering drugs
  Intensified medical follow-up and treatment including cardioprotective glucose-lowering drugs
• Other No intervention
  Baseline comparator group

Primary outcome measures

• Presence of a composite of retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, and MASLD [Time frame: Baseline]
• Incidence of normoglycemia defined as HbA1c <39 mmol/mol [Time frame: 1-year follow-up]

Secondary outcome measures (12)

• Presence of: Retinopathy, Nephropathy, Neuropathy, or MASLD [Time frame: Baseline]
• Presence of a composite of retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy. [Time frame: Baseline]
• Incidence of normoglycemia defined as HbA1c <42 mmol/mol [Time frame: 1-year follow-up]
• Change in HbA1c [Time frame: 1-year follow-up]
• Change in eGFR [Time frame: 1-year follow-up]
• Change in cystatin-C [Time frame: 1-year follow-up]
• Change in hs-CRP [Time frame: 1-year follow-up]
• Change in lipid parameters [Time frame: 1-year follow-up]
• Change in c-peptide [Time frame: 1-year follow-up]
• Change in HOMA-IR [Time frame: 1-year follow-up]
• Change in Fib-4 [Time frame: 1-year follow-up]
• Change in CD163 [Time frame: 1-year follow-up]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Chronic coronary syndrome with documented coronary artery disease. In the case of previous myocardial infarction, at least 30 days between the event and randomization is required.
• Prediabetes defined as HbA1c 42-47 mmol/mol (IEC criteria) OR normoglycemia defined as HbA1c <39 mmol/mol
• Age 18 to 80 years

Exclusion criteria

• eGFR <30 mL/min/1.73 m2
• Previous diabetes diagnosis, previous HbA1c >47 mmol/mol, or current/previous usage of diabetes medication
• Anemia, recent bleeding or blood transfusion (<3 months)
• Previous pancreatitis
• Pregnancy, breastfeeding, or fertile women who do not use highly effective contraception
• Strongly reduced liver function
• Chronic alcohol abuse
• Known hemoglobinopathy and other conditions with effect on erythrocyte lifespan
• Intake of medications with known effect on HbA1c validity such as: antiretroviral medications, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, sulfasalazine hydroxyurea, dapsone, acetylsalicylic acid (>3 g/daily), high dose vitamin C and E.
• Heart failure with NYHA class III or IV Trial subjects must be capable of giving informed consent as assessed by the investigator.

Patients with BMI<25 kg/m2 will be assessed individually by an investigator for eligibility (e.g., whether initiation of a GLP-1 RA with potential weight loss is clinically justifiable).

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Prevention

Study locations

Denmark · 1 center

• Aarhus University Hospital — Aarhus N

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07392151 · 2025-522970-35-00

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗