SGLT2 inhibitors improve outcomes in people with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease

The use of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors was linked with lower risk of acute kidney injury for people with type 2 diabetes and stage five chronic kidney disease, research claims.

Latest evidence has suggested that people with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) using sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) were less likely to need long-term dialysis.

In addition, the results have shown that the use of SGLT2is was linked with a lower risk of cardiovascular events and DKA among those with type 2 diabetes and CKD.

A total of 23,854 people using SGLT2is and 23,892 people not using SGLT2is took part in the trial.

Conditional Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare the risks for dialysis, hospitalisation for heart failure, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), DKA, acute kidney injury (AKI), and all-cause mortality between SGLT2i users and nonusers.

The results state: “In the intention-to-treat model, compared with no SGLT2i use, SGLT2i use was associated with lower risks for dialysis (hazard ratio [HR], 0.34 [95 per cent CI, 0.27 to 0.43]), hospitalisation for heart failure (HR, 0.80 [CI, 0.73 to 0.86]), AMI (HR, 0.61 [CI, 0.52 to 0.73]), DKA (HR, 0.78 [CI, 0.71 to 0.85]), and AKI (HR, 0.80 [CI, 0.70 to 0.90]), but there was no difference in the risk for all-cause mortality (HR, 1.11 [CI, 0.99 to 1.24]).

“The Kaplan–Meier curves and subgroup analyses also showed that initiation of an SGLT2i in stage five CKD was associated with a lower risk for long-term dialysis than no SGLT2i use.”

The full study has been published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.