Pathophysiology/Complications
B R I E F
R E P O R T
A Double-Blind, Randomized, PlaceboControlled Clinical Trial on Benfotiamine
Treatment in Patients With Diabetic
Nephropathy
ALAA ALKHALAF, MD1,4
ASTRID KLOOSTER, BSC1
WILLEM VAN OEVEREN, PHD2
ULRIKE ACHENBACH, PHD3
NANNE KLEEFSTRA, MD4,5
ROBBERT J. SLINGERLAND, PHD6
G. SOPHIE MIJNHOUT, MD, PHD7
HENK J.G. BILO, MD, PHD, FRCP1,4,7
REINOLD O.B. GANS, MD, PHD1
GERJAN J. NAVIS, MD, PHD1
STEPHAN J.L. BAKKER, MD, PHD1
OBJECTIVE — To investigate the effect of benfotiamine on urinary albumin excretion (UAE)
and the tubular damage marker kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) in patients with type 2
diabetes and nephropathy.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS — Patients with type 2 diabetes and UAE equivalent to 15–300 mg/24 h, despite ACE inhibitors (ACE-Is) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs),
were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of benfotiamine (900 mg/day) (n ⫽ 39) or placebo (n ⫽ 43).
RESULTS — Compared with placebo, benfotiamine treatment resulted in significant improvement of thiamine status (P ⬍ 0.001). Benfotiamine treatment did not significantly decrease
24-h UAE or 24-h KIM-1 excretion.
CONCLUSIONS — In patients with type 2 diabetes and nephropathy, high-dose benfotiamine treatment for 12 weeks in addition to ACE-Is or ARBs did not reduce UAE or KIM-1
excretion, despite improvement of thiamine status.
Diabetes Care 33:1598–1601, 2010
T
he pathophysiology of diabetic nephropathy includes albuminuria as
a consequence of glomerular endothelial damage and further progression
due to tubulointerstitial inflammation
and fibrosis (1,2). Despite protective
treatment with ACE inhibitors (ACE-Is)
and angiotensin receptor blockers
(ARBs), many patients progress to endstage renal disease (3).
Thiamine and benfotiamine have
been proposed as protective agents for diabetes complications (4,5). Benfotiamine
is a lipophilic thiamine derivative with
high bioavailability (6). In animal studies,
both compounds had beneficial effects on
microvascular complications, including
diabetic nephropathy (5,7).
We investigated whether benfotiamine results in reduction in urinary
albumin excretion (UAE) or tubulointerstitial damage markers in patients with
type 2 diabetes and increased UAE despite ACE-Is or ARBs.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND
METHODS — Participants were recruited at the Isala Clinics (Zwolle, the
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
From the 1Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; the 2Department of Biomedical Engineering, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen,
the Netherlands; 3Wörwag Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Böblingen, Germany; the 4Diabetes Centre, Isala
Clinics, Zwolle, the Netherlands; the 5Langerhans Medical Research Group, Zwolle, the Netherlands; the
6
Department of Clinical Chemistry, Isala Clinics, Zwolle, the Netherlands; and the 7Department of
Internal Medicine, Isala Clinics, Zwolle, the Netherlands.
Corresponding author: A. Alkhalaf, a.alkhalaf@int.umcg.nl.
Received 9 December 2009 and accepted 10 April 2010. Published ahead of print at http://care.
diabetesjournals.org on 22 April 2010. DOI: 10.2337/dc09-2241. Clinical trial reg. no. NCT00565318;
www.clinicaltrials.gov.
© 2010 by the American Diabetes Association. Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly
cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered. See http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ for details.
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby
marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
1598
DIABETES CARE, VOLUME 33, NUMBER 7, JULY 2010
Netherlands). Inclusion criteria were type
2 diabetes, age 40 –75 years, active diabetic nephropathy (UAE 15–300 mg/24 h
or equivalent albumin-to-creatinine ratio
[males 1.25–25, females 1.75–35 mg/
mmol] in two of three samples within 2– 6
weeks) despite ACE-Is and/or ARBs in unchanged dose for at least 3 months, glycated hemoglobin (A1C) ⬍8.5%, and an
estimated glomerular filtration rate of
⬎30 ml/min. Exclusion criteria were participation in another study, renal impairment by causes other than diabetes,
elevated liver enzymes, hyper- or hypothyroidism, blood pressure ⬎160/90
mmHg, neoplasm, severe general diseases, drug abuse, pregnancy, lactation,
active menses, hypersensitivity to benfotiamine, use of vitamin B– containing supplements, changes in concomitant
medication during the previous 3
months, and use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs ⬎3 times per week.
In total, 2,711 patients were screened. Eligible patients were included after written
informed consent was received. The trial
was approved by the medical ethics
committee.
Patients were randomized to oral benfotiamine 300 mg three times daily or placebo for 12 weeks. Study medication was
prepared by Wörwag Pharma (Böblingen,
Germany). Participants were evaluated at
baseline and after 6 and 12 weeks. Each
visit, 24-h urine, spot morning urine, and
blood samples were collected. Noncompliance was considered if ⬍80% of the
study medication had been taken.
Thiamine concentration was measured in whole blood and plasma by highperformance liquid chromatography (8).
Erythrocyte transketolase activity was
measured in erythrocytes (9). Urinary albumin was measured by immunonephelometry (Behring Nephelometer;
Mannheim, Germany), threshold 1.8 –2.3
mg/l, intra- and interassay coefficients of
variation (CV) 2.2 and 2.6%, respectively.
Urinary kidney injury molecule-1
(KIM-1) was measured by ELISA, threshold 0.12 ng/ml, intra- and interassay CV
7.9 and 14.4%, respectively (10). Neutrocare.diabetesjournals.org
1599
Baseline
Males
Age (years)
BMI (kg/m2)
Duration of diabetes (years)
Insulin treatment
Oral hypoglycaemic agents
Plasma thiamine (nmol/l)
Thiamine status
Whole blood thiamine
(nmol/l)
TK activity (mU/mgHb)
Primary outcome parameters
UAE (mg/24 h)
U-KIM-1 (g/24 h)
Secondary outcome parameters
24-h UACR (mg/mmol)
Spot-urine UACR (mg/mmol)
U-KIM-1/creatinine (ng/mmol)
U-␣1m (mg/24 h)
U-␣1m/creatinine (mg/mmol)
U-Ngal (mg/24 h)
U-Ngal/creatinine (mg/mmol)
Clinical characteristics
SBP (mmHg)
DBP (mmHg)
A1C (%)
Plasma creatinine (mol/l)
Creatinine clearance (ml/min)
Cystatin C (mg/l)
LDL cholesterol (mmol/l)
HDL cholesterol (mmol/l)
Triglycerides (mmol/l)
6 weeks
Placebo (n ⫽ 43)
12 weeks
30
65.3 ⫾ 5.9
32.1 ⫾ 5.1
12 (9–18)
31 (79)
19 (49)
31.8 ⫾ 7.7
Baseline
6 weeks
12 weeks
33
64.6 ⫾ 6.1
31.9 ⫾ 5.9
10 (7–18)
29 (67)
29 (67)
31.6 ⫾ 9.8
P
0.98
0.63
0.93
0.41
0.22
0.05
0.92
126 ⫾ 23
0.41 ⫾ 0.10
290 ⫾ 31
0.51 ⫾ 0.12
300 ⫾ 0
0.53 ⫾ 0.15
122 ⫾ 23
0.38 ⫾ 0.11
124 ⫾ 25
0.39 ⫾ 0.08
138 ⫾ 30
0.41 ⫾ 0.10
⬍0.001
⬍0.001
90 (38–267)
1.67 (0.95–2.47)
75 (49–280)
1.51 (0.86–2.59)
72 (38–199)
1.68 (1.06–2.40)
97 (48–177)
1.56 (1.06–1.83)
99 (43–200)
1.56 (1.06–1.83)
96 (45–200)
1.39 (1.02–2.01)
0.36
0.12
10.3 (3.7–23.4)
9.3 (2.4–16.8)
103 (63–158)
9.4 (4.3–24.4)
0.6 (0.3–1.4)
131 (67–227)
6.7 (4.3–13.9)
6.1 (3.0–17.7)
5.8 (3.7–17.9)
95 (66–170)
11.9 (4.4–20.2)
0.7 (0.3–1.3)
118 (77–229)
6.2 (3.4–15.9)
4.9 (2.5–18.4)
7.1 (3.6–17.8)
96 (77–148)
11.2 (4.1–18.8)
0.6 (0.3–1.2)
115 (73–284)
5.1 (3.2–12.9)
7.6 (4.3–13.3)
6.2 (3.4–10.5)
99 (79–141)
8.2 (4.3–20.3)
0.6 (0.3–1.3)
122 (53–224)
7.7 (4.2–18.9)
7.4 (2.8–11.0)
8.2 (3.9–14.2)
89 (58–130)
9.0 (5.7–21.1)
0.6 (0.3–1.4)
112 (52–218)
6.4 (3.2–15.1)
7.1 (4.0–12.5)
8.1 (4.6–15.9)
81 (66–150)
10.2 (2.5–19.7)
0.7 (0.2–1.1)
99 (52–222)
8.5 (3.3–13.1)
0.37
0.58
0.37
0.33
0.47
0.17
0.18
140 ⫾ 16
76 ⫾ 8
7.3 ⫾ 0.9
84 ⫾ 19
135 ⫾ 51
1.01 ⫾ 0.21
1.9 ⫾ 0.7
1.2 ⫾ 0.3
1.8 (1.4–2.6)
139 ⫾ 14
77 ⫾ 10
7.1 ⫾ 0.9
89 ⫾ 19
129 ⫾ 53
1.06 ⫾ 0.22
1.9 ⫾ 0.8
1.1 ⫾ 0.3
1.9 (1.4–2.8)
143 ⫾ 17
76 ⫾ 9
7.3 ⫾ 1.0
88 ⫾ 20
133 ⫾ 45
1.09 ⫾ 0.23
2.1 ⫾ 0.8
1.2 ⫾ 0.3
1.7 (1.2–2.6)
137 ⫾ 20
76 ⫾ 10
7.4 ⫾ 0.9
87 ⫾ 23
130 ⫾ 58
1.03 ⫾ 0.23
1.8 ⫾ 0.9
1.1 ⫾ 0.3
2.1 (1.4–3.4)
140 ⫾ 20
76 ⫾ 9
7.2 ⫾ 0.9
89 ⫾ 25
139 ⫾ 58
1.10 ⫾ 0.26
1.8 ⫾ 0.9
1.1 ⫾ 0.3
2.2 (1.4–2.9)
140 ⫾ 17
76 ⫾ 10
7.2 ⫾ 0.9
87 ⫾ 21
131 ⫾ 64
1.11 ⫾ 0.23
1.9 ⫾ 0.9
1.1 ⫾ 0.3
2.0 (1.2–2.9)
0.60
0.68
0.33
0.04
0.57
0.53
0.55
0.25
0.06
Data are means ⫾ SD, n (%), or median (interquartile range). Comparison of baseline characteristics was performed by unpaired Student t test (for normally distributed variables) or Mann-Whitney U test (for
non-normally distributed variables). 2 test was used to compare noncontinuous variables. Changes in thiamine status parameters, primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and clinical characteristics
over time were analyzed by ANOVA for repeated measures, with log-transformation of variables with skewed distribution prior to analysis. DBP, diastolic blood pressure; SBP, systolic blood pressure; TK, transketolase;
U-␣1m, urinary excretion of ␣1-microglobulin; U-KIM-1, urinary excretion of KIM-1; U-Ngal, urinary excretion of neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin; UACR, urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio.
DIABETES CARE, VOLUME 33, NUMBER 7, JULY 2010
Benfotiamine (n ⫽ 39)
care.diabetesjournals.org
Alkhalaf and Associates
Table 1—Baseline characteristics and changes in thiamine status parameters, primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and clinical characteristics over time
Benfotiamine treatment in diabetic nephropathy
phil gelatinase–associated lipocalin and
␣1-microglobulin were measured by
ELISA and cystatin C by immunoassay
(Gentian; Moss, Norway). Other laboratory measurements were performed according to standard procedures.
Statistical analyses
Variables with normal distribution are
presented as means ⫾ SD. Variables with
skewed distribution were log-transformed before analysis and are presented
as median (interquartile range). Changes
were analyzed by ANOVA for repeated
measurements. P values for change over
time are presented. Results were considered statistically significant with P ⬍
0.05.
To test whether benfotiamine reduces
24-h UAE or 24-h KIM-1 excretion, 38
evaluable patients per group were required to detect an effect of size 0.65
(power 80%, ␣ ⫽ 0.05, one-sided test).
To compensate for drop-out, we enrolled
43 patients per group. One-sided P values
were calculated for primary outcome
measures and two-sided P values for other
outcomes. Statistics were done by SPSS,
version 16.0 (Chicago, IL). Intention-totreat analysis and per-protocol analyses
were planned. In cases of drop-out, data
were not replaced.
RESULTS — Baseline characteristics
and results at 6 and 12 weeks are shown
in Table 1. In the benfotiamine group,
two patients did not complete the study
because of newly diagnosed malignancy
and two others withdrew informed consent (dizziness and urticaria). In patients
receiving benfotiamine, parameters of thiamine status improved significantly. Benfotiamine treatment had no significant
effect on primary or secondary outcome
parameters. Change in UAE between
baseline and 12 weeks was ⫺18 mg/24 h
in the benfotiamine group and ⫺1 mg/24
h in the placebo group. For individual differences, respective changes were ⫺9
(⫺53 to 34)mg/24 h and ⫺7 mg/24
h(⫺56 to 65). With respect to clinical
characteristics, benfotiamine resulted in a
borderline significant increase in plasma
creatinine, but this was not accompanied
by changes in creatinine clearance or cystatin C.
During the study, two patients were
noncompliant (one per group) and two
protocol violations occurred in the placebo group (ACE-I stopped), resulting in
38 patients in the benfotiamine and 40 in
the placebo group for per-protocol anal1600
yses, of which results (data not shown)
were not materially different from presented analyses.
CONCLUSIONS — We found that
12-week treatment with high-dose benfotiamine did not result in decreases in 24h–UAE or 24-h–KIM-1 excretion despite
significant improvement of thiamine
status.
Our findings differ from those of a
pilot study of 40 patients with type 2 diabetes in which 12 weeks of 300 mg/day
of thiamine resulted in a significant decrease in UAE by 17.7 mg/24 h (11). In
that study, baseline UAE was 44 mg/24 h
(33–121) in the thiamine and 51 mg/24 h
(32–122) in the placebo group, which is
approximately 2 times lower than in our
study, despite 100% of ACE-I and ARB
treatment in our study versus ⬍50% in
the pilot study (12). Thus, thiamine derivatives may provide protective effects in
earlier diabetic nephropathy stages,
which is in line with an animal study in
which development of albuminuria after
induction of diabetes was inhibited by
thiamine and benfotiamine (5). Furthermore, we investigated Caucasian patients,
and the other study was of Pakistani patients. Thus, differences in diet, baseline
prevalence of thiamine deficiency, or genetic susceptibility may also play a role. In
our study, baseline plasma thiamine concentrations of 31.8 ⫾ 7.7 nmol/l in the
benfotiamine group and 31.6 ⫾ 9.8
nmol/l in the placebo group were higher
than the 16.3 ⫾ 11.5 nmol/l reported for
patients with type 2 diabetes in the U.K.,
but deficient compared to the 64.1 ⫾
12.0 nmol/l reported for healthy control
subjects in that study (13).
It is important to realize that thiamine
and benfotiamine are supposed to antagonize detrimental effects of hyperglycemia (7). Yet, in two large intervention
studies, it took years of lowering A1C before a difference in UAE was found between strict metabolic control and
standard therapy (14,15). Our study may
therefore have been too short to demonstrate the effect of benfotiamine.
In conclusion, longer-term intervention studies and/or intervention studies in
earlier stages of diabetic nephropathy are
necessary to discern whether benfotiamine has an effect on the development
of diabetic nephropathy.
Acknowledgments — This trial was partly
funded by a grant from the European Union to
DIABETES CARE, VOLUME 33, NUMBER 7, JULY 2010
PREDICTIONS (Prevention of Diabetes Complication) network and by the medical research foundation in Zwolle.
U.A. is the head of medical affairs in Wörwag Pharma Co., and contributed in the preparation of the study protocol and other
necessary documents needed for approval of
the study by the ethics committee and authorities but was not directly or indirectly involved
in the practical procedures, inclusion and
evaluation of subjects, data collection, or data
analysis.
No potential conflicts of interest relevant to
this article were reported.
A.A. researched data and wrote the manuscript. A.K., W.V.O., and R.J.S. researched
data. U.A. and G.S.M. contributed to the discussion. N.K., H.J.G.B., R.O.B.G., G.J.N., and
S.J.L.B. contributed to the discussion and reviewed/edited the manuscript.
The authors acknowledge the efforts of Drs.
J. Lambert and J.E. Heeg (Isala clinics, Zwolle,
the Netherlands) and Dr. J. Jager (Diaconessenhuis Hospital, Meppel, the Netherlands) in
preparing the study. The authors thank Dr.
L.D. Dikkeschei, M. van der Saag, and M.
Slingschröder (clinical chemical laboratories
in the Isala Clinics, Zwolle, the Netherlands)
and H. Breukelman (clinical chemical laboratories at the University Medical Center,
Groningen, the Netherlands) for their collaboration. The authors also acknowledge the efforts of Dr. W. Gaus (University of Ulm,
Germany) as independent statistician.
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