An exploration of the heterogeneity in effects of SGLT2 inhibition on cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in the EMPA-REG OUTCOME, CANVAS Program, DECLARE-TIMI 58, and CREDENCE trials

Potential Mediators for Treatment Effects of Novel Diabetes Medications on Cardiovascular and Renal Outcomes: A Meta-Regression Analysis

BACKGROUND

Prior research suggests clinical effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) are mediated by changes in glycated hemoglobin, body weight, systolic blood pressure, hematocrit, and urine albumin-creatinine ratio. We aimed to confirm these findings using a meta-analytic approach.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We updated a systematic review of 9 GLP-1RA and 13 SGLT2i trials and summarized longitudinal mediator data. We obtained hazard ratios (HRs) for cardiovascular, renal, and mortality outcomes. We performed linear mixed-effects modeling of LogHRs versus changes in potential mediators and investigated differences in meta-regression associations among drug classes using interaction terms. HRs generally became more protective with greater glycated hemoglobin reduction among GLP-1RA trials, with average HR improvements of 20% to 30%, reaching statistical significance for major adverse cardiovascular events (ΔHR, 23%; P=0.02). Among SGLT2i trials, associations with HRs were not significant and differed from GLP1-RA trials for major adverse cardiovascular events (Pinteraction=0.04). HRs for major adverse cardiovascular events, myocardial infarction, and stroke became less efficacious (ΔHR, -15% to -34%), with more weight loss for SGLT2i but not for GLP-1RA trials (ΔHR, 4%-7%; Pinteraction<0.05). Among 5 SGLT2i trials with available data, HRs for stroke became less efficacious with larger increases in hematocrit (ΔHR, 123%; P=0.09). No changes in HRs by systolic blood pressure (ΔHR, -11% to 9%) and urine albumin-creatinine ratio (ΔHR, -1% to 4%) were found for any outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

We confirmed increased efficacy findings for major adverse cardiovascular events with reduction in glycated hemoglobin for GLP1-RAs. Further research is needed on the potential loss of cardiovascular benefits with increased weight loss and hematocrit for SGLT2i.

Bibliometric and visualized analysis of sodium-Glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors

Background: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors have proved to be extremely effective and reliable in reducing hyperglycemia, and have also been used for the treatment of cardiovascular and renal disease in patients with or without type 2 diabetes. Thousands of research articles on SGLT2 inhibitors have been published in the past, but few bibliometric analyses have systematically been studied this field. We aimed to visualize the global research hotspots and trends of SGLT2 inhibitors using a bibliometric analysis to provide new evidence and ideas for researchers and clinicians in this field. Methods: We retrieved publications from Science Citation Index Expanded of Web of Science Core Collection in 2004-2022 on 1 July 2022. Microsoft Excel, CiteSpace and VOSviewer were employed to collect publication data, analyze publication trends, and visualize relevant results. Results: We identified 4,419 original research articles on SGLT2 inhibitors published between 2004 and the first half of 2022. Global SGLT2 inhibitors-related research increased rapidly from 2004 to 2022, especially recently. United States made the greatest contribution to the topic, with (1,629, 36.86%) publications and citations (88,892). AstraZeneca was the most prolific institutions (272, 6.16%). Heerspink HJL published the most related articles (98), whereas Zinman B was cited the most frequently (1,784 citations). Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism was the journal with the most studies (406, 9.19%), and The New England Journal of Medicine was the most commonly cited journal (11,617 citations), with nine of the top 10 co-cited references published in this journal. The emerging keywords "heart failure," "diabetic cardiomyopathy," "ejection fraction," "mortality," "biomarker," "fibrosis," "ampk," and "guideline" appeared the most recently as research frontiers. Conclusion: United States is the leader in SGLT2 inhibitor research. Recently, the research on SGLT2 inhibitors has focused on clinical trials, related mechanisms, and therapy. In the future, the research on SGLT2 inhibitors will delve into molecular mechanisms, especially those related to fibrosis and AMPK, revealing the link between SGLT2 inhibitors and heart failure and diabetic cardiomyopathy will be the next research hotspot.

Effects of dapagliflozin on mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease: a pre-specified analysis from the DAPA-CKD randomized controlled trial

Aims 

Mortality rates from chronic kidney disease (CKD) have increased in the last decade. In this pre-specified analysis of the DAPA-CKD trial, we determined the effects of dapagliflozin on cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular causes of death.

Methods and results 

DAPA-CKD was an international, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with a median of 2.4 years of follow-up. Eligible participants were adult patients with CKD, defined as a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) 200–5000 mg/g and an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 25–75 mL/min/1.73 m². All-cause mortality was a key secondary endpoint. Cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular death was adjudicated by an independent clinical events committee. The DAPA-CKD trial randomized participants to dapagliflozin 10 mg/day (n = 2152) or placebo (n = 2152). The mean age was 62 years, 33% were women, the mean eGFR was 43.1 mL/min/1.73 m², and the median UACR was 949 mg/g. During follow-up, 247 (5.7%) patients died, of whom 91 (36.8%) died due to cardiovascular causes, 102 (41.3%) due to non-cardiovascular causes, and in 54 (21.9%) patients, the cause of death was undetermined. The relative risk reduction for all-cause mortality with dapagliflozin (31%, hazard ratio [HR] [95% confidence interval (CI)] 0.69 [0.53, 0.88]; P = 0.003) was consistent across pre-specified subgroups. The effect on all-cause mortality was driven largely by a 46% relative risk reduction of non-cardiovascular death (HR [95% CI] 0.54 [0.36, 0.82]). Deaths due to infections and malignancies were the most frequently occurring causes of non-cardiovascular deaths and were reduced with dapagliflozin vs. placebo.

Conclusion 

In patients with CKD, dapagliflozin prolonged survival irrespective of baseline patient characteristics. The benefits were driven largely by reductions in non-cardiovascular death.

How should we monitor the cardiovascular benefit of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibition?

Sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are increasingly prescribed for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart failure (HF). The mechanisms by which SGLT2 inhibitors reduce such risk are likely to be independent of diabetes status and improvement of glycemic control. In this commentary, based on recent mediation analyses of cardiovascular outcome trials with SGLT2 inhibitors, we discuss the prognostic role of a well-known HF-related biomarker, amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), in patients receiving SGLT2 inhibitors. Interestingly, the NT-proBNP concentration had a relatively small impact on the SGLT2 inhibitor-associated benefit on HF events, suggesting a limited value in measuring NT-proBNP concentrations to monitor effects on cardiovascular outcomes after initiation of SGLT2 inhibitor therapy. Instead, clinical factors, such as body weight and volume status, were prognostic for cardiovascular outcomes. As shown in some biomarker studies, short-term SGLT2 inhibitor treatment significantly improved volume and HF-related health status, despite the absence of a significant change in NT-proBNP concentration. Given the early and continuous risk reduction in HF events seen in the cardiovascular outcome trials with SGLT2 inhibitors, changes in these fundamental clinical parameters after initiation of SGLT2 inhibitor therapy, independent of NT-proBNP, could be more prognostic and could represent key determinants to identify responders or non-responders to SGLT2 inhibitors for cardiovascular outcomes. Thus, this commentary highlights the clinical importance of establishing how clinicians should monitor patients initiating SGLT2 inhibitor therapy to predict the expected cardiovascular benefit. Further detailed investigations and discussion to better understand this ‘‘black box’’ are urgently warranted.