Aims
To examine heart failure (HF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) risks reduction associated with sodium‐glucose cotransporter‐2 inhibitors (SGLT‐2i) compared to other glucose‐lowering drugs (oGLD) in the early stage of type 2 diabetes patients without established cardiovascular or renal diseases (CVRD‐free T2D).
Materials and Methods
We performed an observational cohort study using a Japanese hospital claims registry, Medical Data Vision. CVRD‐free T2D patients were identified between 1 April 2014 and 30 September 2018. SGLT‐2i and oGLD new users (and dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors [DPP‐4i] separately) were subjected to 1:1 propensity‐score matching analysis. Hazard ratios (HRs) of cardiorenal disease (HF and/or CKD), HF, CKD, stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), and all‐cause mortality, were estimated using unadjusted Cox regression.
Results
A total of 108 362 CVRD‐free patients including 54 181 SGLT‐2i and 54 181 oGLD users were matched. Baseline characteristics were well balanced (mean age 59.1 years, 63% male, and follow‐up 1.50 years [162 970 patient‐years]). Compared to oGLD group, SGLT‐2i group had lower risk of cardiorenal disease, HF, CKD, stroke, and all‐cause mortality with HRs (95% confidence intervals) 0.55 (0.49‐0.61), 0.73 (0.61‐0.87), 0.45 (0.39‐0.52), 0.69 (0.59‐0.81), and 0.52 (0.46‐0.58), respectively, while no difference in MI. These were consistent in 1:1 propensity‐score matching analysis between SGLT‐2i and DPP‐4i users (n = 17 232 in each group).
Conclusions
In Japanese CVRD‐free T2D patients, SGLT‐2i initiation was associated with lower risk of cardiorenal diseases, stroke, and all‐cause mortality compared to oGLD, suggesting preventive effect of SGLT‐2i treatment in the early stage of T2D patients without CVRD manifestation.