Xuezhikang, an extract of cholestin, reduces cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes patients with coronary heart disease: Subgroup analysis of patients with type 2 diabetes from China Coronary Secondary Prevention Study (CCSPS)

Lipid-lowering therapy has been proven to reduce macrovascular complications of type 2 diabetes. Xuezhikang is an extract of cholestin and has a markedly modulating effect on lipids, but the effect of xuezhikang on reducing coronary events in diabetic patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) is less clear. A total of 591 diabetic patients with CHD were randomized to the xuezhikang group (n = 306) and the placebo group (n = 285). During the average 4 years of follow-up, there were 28 cases of CHD events (9.2%) in the xuezhikang group and 53 cases (18.6%) in the placebo group. Risk reduction for CHD events was 50.8% (P < 0.001) by xuezhikang treatment. Xuezhikang decreased the risk of non-fatal MI by 63.8%, fatal MI by 58.5%, CHD sudden death by 26.9%, and other CHD death by 53.4%. CHD death totaled to 21 cases in the xuezhikang group (6.9%) and 35 cases in the placebo group (12.3%), indicating that xuezhikang significantly decreased the risk of CHD death by 44.1% (P < 0.05). Seventy-two patients died from various causes, among which there were 27 patients in the xuezhikang group and 45 patients in the placebo group. The risk for all-cause death was 44.1 % lower in the xuezhikang group than in the placebo group (P < 0.01). This investigation demonstrates that xuezhikang therapy can be effective on reduction of cardiovascular events in diabetic patients with CHD with a reliable safety.