Drugs share antidiabetic and antiatherosclerotic actions through "the common soil"

There have been increasing evidences that atherosclerosis is not the result of diabetes mellitus, but that both type 2 diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis may share common pathogenesis, as Stern proposed as 'common soil' hypothesis in 1995. There are several candidates for 'common soil', such as insulin resistance, vascular inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. Recently many of clinical studies have indicated that some drugs can prevent or delay the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Furthermore, many studies have suggested that some classes of drugs may prevent the development of type 2 diabetes. It is to be noted that most of the drugs may have both actions, i.e., to prevent development of new diabetes and to prevent CVD. Furthermore, they are reported to inhibit inflammation or endothelial dysfunction. Taken together, it is hypothesized that the drug which may have antiatherogenetic action may also have antidiabetic action, and vice versa. This hypothesis may provide the new insights into perspectives of drug development both to prevent type 2 diabetes and to prevent CVD.