Cardiovascular Benefits With SGLT-2 Inhibitor Use

The use of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors helps lower cardiovascular (CV) risk in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to new study findings.

For their study, the researchers identified and assessed more than 400,000 new users of SGLT-2 inhibitors or oral glucose lowering drugs (oGLD) in various countries worldwide using data from claims, medical records, and national registries.

Participants were propensity score-matched. Weighted meta-analysis was used to examine hazard ratios (HRs) for hospitalization for heart failure (HHF), death or HHF, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke.

Ultimately, there were 235,064 episodes of treatment initiation in each group, and approximately 27% of participants had established CVD. Types of SGLT-2 inhibitors that were used included dapagliflozin, empagliflozin, ipragliflozin, canagliflozin, tofogliflozin, and luseogliflozin.

Findings indicated that the use of SGLT-2 inhibitors was associated with a lower risk of death (HR 0.51), HHF (HR 0.64), death or HHF (HR 0.60), MI (HR 0.81), and stroke (HR 0.68) compared with oGLD use.

“In this large, international study of patients with T2D from the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North America, initiation of [SGLT-2 inhibitors] was associated with a lower risk of CV events, across a broad range of outcomes and patient characteristics,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

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