The failed HDL-raising drug torcetrapib may have helped control type 2 diabetes, according to an analysis that may raise hopes for other drugs in the class. Torcetrapib appeared to modestly but significantly reduce serum glucose, hemoglobin A1c, and insulin levels and cut insulin resistance when added to atorvastatin (Lipitor), Philip J. Barter, MBBS, PhD, of the University of Sydney, Australia, and colleagues found. These benefits among the 6,661 diabetes patients in the halted ILLUMINATE trial were mirrored to a smaller degree in patients without diabetes, the researchers reported online in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
