The group of type 2 diabetes drugs known as SGLT2 inhibitors reduced the risk for cardiovascular problems among adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a new analysis presented at the American Heart Association’s 2022 Scientific Sessions and described in a news release from the organization.
SGLT2 inhibitors — which include Farxiga (dapagliflozin) and Jardiance (empagliflozin) — were originally developed to lower blood glucose levels in people with type 2, but were found in studies to have have health benefits in other areas, including kidney health and cardiovascular health. Later clinical trials led to new approvals of these drugs for treating diseases other than diabetes — specifically a common form of heart failure (Farxiga and Jardiance) and chronic kidney disease (Farxiga). Farxiga, in particular, was recently shown to reduce deaths related to cardiovascular disease in people with heart failure, and may add years of life in people with the condition.
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For the latest analysis, researchers combined data from 13 major clinical trials on SGLT2 inhibitors — looking at chronic kidney disease progression, acute kidney injury, hospitalization for heart failure, and death from cardiovascular causes in people with or without type 2 diabetes. This analysis confirmed the benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors when it came to both cardiovascular and kidney health, the researchers noted.
SGLT2 inhibitors linked to decreased cardiovascular death risk
SGLT2 inhibitors were shown to reduce the overall risk for death from cardiovascular causes by 14%, and this risk reduction was similar in people with or without type 2 diabetes. When death from cardiovascular causes and hospitalization for heart failure were combined as an outcome, taking SGLT2 inhibitors reduced this risk by 23% — again, with similar results seen in people with or without diabetes. The risk for kidney disease progression was reduced by 37% overall, following the pattern of similar results regardless of diabetes status.
The researchers noted that based on their analysis, for every 1,000 people with heart failure who took an SGLT2 inhibitor for a year, 34 people with diabetes and 22 people without diabetes would be expected to avoid hospitalization for heart failure or death from cardiovascular causes. For every 1,000 people with chronic kidney disease who took an SGLT2 inhibitor for a year, 11 people with diabetes and 15 people without diabetes would be expected to avoid seeing their kidney disease progress.
“Our results suggest that SGLT2 inhibitors […] should be offered to all adults who may benefit from the treatment, to reduce the risk of kidney disease progression and cardiovascular complications in people with chronic kidney disease, regardless of whether they have type 2 diabetes,” said study author David Preiss, PhD, an associate professor in the Nuffield Department of Population Health at the University of Oxford in England, in the news release. “We now have very good evidence that they lower the chance of dying from [cardiovascular] disease or being hospitalized for heart failure among people with chronic kidney disease, heart failure, or type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”
Want to learn more about SGLT2 inhibitors? Read “Diabetes Medicine: SGLT2 Inhibitors.”