Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are one of the drugs used in the treatment of type-2 diabetes. However, a recent study associated the use of SGLT 2 inhibitor with the increased risk of cardiovascular events. The objective of this study is to assess the cardiovascular safety of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors.
This is a cohort-study conducted using nationwide registers of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The study included a total of 20,983 new users of SGLT2 inhibitors and the same number of new users of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) inhibitors. The participants were aged 35-84. The main outcomes of the study were cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, and death.
There were a total of 17.0 per 1,000 person-years of incidence of cardiovascular disease in the SGLT2 inhibitor group and 18.0 per 1,000 person-years in the DPP4 inhibitor group. The hazard ratio was also less for the SGLT2 inhibitor group than for the DPP4 inhibitor group.
The research concluded that SGLT2 inhibitor use was associated with a reduced risk of heart failure, any related complications when compared with the use of DPP4 inhibitors. But overall, the use of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors in routine clinical practice may increase the risk of cardiovascular events.
Ref: https://www.bmj.com/content/366/bmj.l4772
