Are CV Events Less Common With A Gliflozin Drug?

Treatment with the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor canagliflozin is associated with a decreased risk for heart failure (HF) and other cardiovascular (CV) events, compared with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, according to a new study.

For their study, the researchers evaluated a national sample of patients aged 18 years or older with type 2 diabetes from a large US commercial health care database.

All patients included in the study had initiated canagliflozin or a non-gliflozin antidiabetic agent—such as a DPP-4 inhibitor, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA), or a sulfonylurea—between April 2013 and September 2015.

After 30 months, the hazard ratios for HF hospital admissions associated with canagliflozin use were 0.70 vs a DPP-4 inhibitor, 0.61 vs a GLP-1RA, and 0.51 vs a sulfonylurea.

The hazard ratios for hospital admission for acute myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, or hemorrhagic stroke associated with canagliflozin use were 0.89 vs a DPP-4 inhibitor, 1.03 vs a GLP-1RA, and 0.86 vs a sulfonylurea.

“In this large cohort study, canagliflozin was associated with a lower risk of heart failure admission to hospital and with a similar risk of myocardial infarction or stroke in direct comparisons with three different classes of non-gliflozin diabetes treatment alternatives as used in routine care,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

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