Achieving pharmacoequity is central to overcoming health care disparities that persist across race and ethnic groups.¹ Racial and ethnic minority individuals have been less likely than White persons to be prescribed novel guideline-recommended therapies with proven effectiveness.^1,2 These disparities may be particularly salient among patients with type 2 diabetes because Asian, Black, and Hispanic or Latino persons have a higher prevalence of diabetes and its complications than White patients.^3-5 Therefore, evaluating whether health care disparities exist in the prescription of guideline-recommended therapies that could reduce the cardiovascular and kidney complications of diabetes is of public health importance.

Background and objectives Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins may contribute to the high cardiovascular risk of patients with CKD. This study evaluated associations of apo-B and markers of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins with cardiovascular events in people with CKD. Design, setting, participants, & measurements Analyses were conducted in 9270 participants with CKD in the Study of Heart and Renal Protection (SHARP): 6245 not on dialysis (mean eGFR 26.5 ml/min per 1.73 m²), and 3025 on dialysis when recruited. Cox regression methods were used to evaluate associations of lipids with incident atherosclerotic and nonatherosclerotic vascular events, adjusting for demographics and clinical characteristics. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated per 1 SD higher level for apo-B, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride-rich lipoprotein cholesterol (i.e., total cholesterol minus LDL cholesterol minus HDL cholesterol), non-HDL cholesterol, log triglyceride, and log ratio of triglyceride to HDL cholesterol. Results During a median follow-up of 4.9 years (interquartile range, 4.0–5.5 years), 1406 participants experienced at least one atherosclerotic vascular event. In multivariable adjusted models, positive associations with atherosclerotic vascular events were observed for apo-B (HR per 1 SD, 1.19; 95% confidence interval, 1.12 to 1.27), triglycerides (1.06; 1.00 to 1.13), the ratio of triglyceride to HDL cholesterol (1.10; 1.03 to 1.18), and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein cholesterol (1.14; 1.05 to 1.25). By contrast, inverse associations with nonatherosclerotic vascular events were observed for each of these lipid markers: apo-B (HR per 1 SD, 0.92; 0.85 to 0.98), triglycerides (0.86; 0.81 to 0.92), the ratio of triglyceride to HDL cholesterol (0.88; 0.82 to 0.94), and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein cholesterol (0.85; 0.77 to 0.94). Conclusions Higher apo-B, triglycerides, ratio of triglyceride to HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations were associated with increased risk of atherosclerotic vascular events in CKD. Reducing triglyceride-rich lipoproteins using novel therapeutic agents could potentially lower the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk in the CKD population. Visual Abstract

We sought to estimate the prevalence of hypertension and characteristics of hypertensive adults in the United States according to blood pressure (BP) thresholds used for diagnosis and estimate their associated cardiovascular disease risk. Analyses included adults 20 years of age or older in the 2013 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (N=5389) and enrolled participants in SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial; N=9361) and the ACCORD-BP trial (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes-Blood Pressure; N=4733). In the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, prevalence estimates incorporated the probability of observing elevated BP on 2 separate occasions. Using the new BP thresholds of ≥130/80 mm Hg, ≈24 million new American adults would be diagnosed as having hypertension and 4.3 million would be recommended to start antihypertensive medications. These individuals would have a lower mean atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk (17%) than participants in SPRINT and ACCORD-BP (22% and 27%) and would be less likely to have prevalent cardiovascular disease (9% versus 17% and 34%). In SPRINT and ACCORD-BP, only a minority (9% and 13%) of participants were not on antihypertensive medications at baseline, and rates of incident cardiovascular disease in these participants were substantially lower compared with those on baseline BP medications. We conclude that adopting the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines would lead to a substantial increase in the prevalence of hypertension and in the number of American adults recommended to start antihypertensive medications. These individuals would have a substantially lower cardiovascular risk than most participants previously studied in 2 large BP trials.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence and correlates of prescription of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and/or glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RA) in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with and without chronic kidney disease (CKD). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional analyses of SGLT2i and GLP1-RA prescriptions from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020 in the Veterans Health Administration System. The likelihood of prescriptions was examined by the presence or absence of CKD and by predicted risks of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). RESULTS: Of 1,197,880 adults with T2DM, SGLT2i and GLP1-RA were prescribed to 11% and 8% of patients overall, and to 12% and 10% of those with concomitant CKD, respectively. In adjusted models, patients with severe albuminuria were less likely to be prescribed SGLT2i or GLP1-RA versus nonalbuminuric patients with CKD, with odds ratios (ORs) of 0.91 (95% CI 0.89, 0.93) and 0.97 (0.94, 1.00), respectively. Patients with a 10-year ASCVD risk >20% (vs. 5%, compared with <1%, was associated with lower likelihood of SGLT2i prescription (OR 0.63 [0.59, 0.67]) but higher likelihood of GLP1-RA prescription (OR 1.53 [1.46, 1.61]). CONCLUSIONS: Among a large cohort of patients with T2DM, prescription of SGLT2i and GLP1-RA was low in those with CKD. We observed a “risk-treatment paradox,” whereby patients with higher risk of adverse outcomes were less likely to receive these therapies.