Nateglinide and valsartan for the prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular events

The NEJM, March 2010, published, as part of the NAVIGATOR study, 2 papers concerning the effect of valsartan, and nateglinide, on the incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular events. The patients were followed for an average of 5 years.

Nateglinide lowered blood sugar, sometimes with hypoglycemia, but clinically it did not reduce the incidence of diabetes or cardiovascular events.

Valsartan did not reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events, which is surprising, but it reduced the incidence of diabetes by 14%.

The editorial concerning these two articles has reservations about the validity of the methodology and some results.