The effect of anti‐inflammatory (aspirin and/or statin) therapy on body weight in Type 2 diabetic individuals: EAT,a retrospective study

Aims Obesity is associated with inflammation. Anti‐inflammatory interventions such as aspirin and statins (anti‐IFRx) might be a novel approach to the treatment of obesity and Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The present study was designed to determine whether exposure to anti‐IFRx is associated with weight loss in T2DM patients. Methods Exposure to anti‐IFRx was compared between T2DM patients with a history of weight loss (n = 100) and those with no weight loss or with weight gain (n = 102) during a 1‐year follow‐up period. Logistic regression was used to develop odds ratios for weight loss status. Results Subjects who lost weight were more frequently exposed to anti‐IFRx (85.0 vs. 71.5%, P = 0.018) than subjects who maintained or gained weight during follow‐up. The 158 subjects exposed to anti‐IFRx were older (64.2 ± 9.4 vs. 60.6 ± 11.2 years, P = 0.04), had longer duration T2DM (14.5 ± 9.5 vs. 9.0 ± 9.4 years, P = 0.001), had greater prevalence of dyslipidaemia (72 vs. 19%, P < 0.0001) hypertension (57.3 vs. 38.1%, P = 0.03) and cardiovascular disease (37.7 vs. 9.5%, P < 0.0001) than subjects not exposed to anti‐IFRx. In a logistic regression model for weight change status, anti‐IFRx exposure was significantly associated with weight status (odds ratio = 2.3, 95% confidence interval 1.1–4.8, P = 0.02, an association that persisted), even after controlling for age, sex, baseline body mass index, years since diagnosis, OHA therapy and co‐morbidities. Conclusions Exposure to anti‐IFRx more than doubled the odds of weight loss in T2DM patients. Results of this study justify a randomized clinical trial to determine definitively the role of anti‐IFRx in weight loss in subjects with T2DM.