BACKGROUND: JELIS was a large-scale
clinical trial that investigated the effects of
eicosapentaenoic acid (
EPA) on
coronary artery disease (
CAD). In this paper, the data of patients registered in JELIS were analysed to compare the incidence of
CAD between patients with
impaired glucose metabolism (IGM) and normoglycemic (NG) patients. The effect of
EPA on the incidence of
CAD in patients with IGM was also assessed. METHODS: The 18,645 hypercholesterolemic patients registered in JELIS were divided into two groups. One group consisted of patients with IGM (n=4565), which included the patients who had
diabetes mellitus and patients who had a fasting
plasma glucose of 110mg/dL or higher, either at the time of registration or after 6 months. The other group consisted of NG patients (n=14,080).
CAD incidence of the two groups over the
average 4.6-year follow-up period was compared, and the effect of
EPA was assessed. RESULTS: Compared to NG patients, IGM patients had a significantly higher
CAD hazard ratio (1.71 in the non-EPA group and 1.63 in the
EPA group). The treatment with
EPA resulted in a 22% decrease in the
CAD incidence (P=0.048) in IGM patients and an 18% decrease (P=0.062) in NG patients. CONCLUSIONS: It was found that the
CAD risk in IGM patients is higher than in NG patients, and that highly purified
EPA is very effective in decreasing the incidence of
CAD among Japanese IGM patients, even though the intake of fish is high.
