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Empagliflozin and Decreased Risk of Nephrolithiasis: A Potential New Role for SGLT2 Inhibition?

Balasubramanian P, Wanner C, Ferreira JP, Ofstad AP, Elsaesser A, Zinman B, Inzucchi SE

The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2022

4,904 participants · 47 citations

Abstract

Abstract Context Diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for nephrolithiasis. A recent observational study found that in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), SGLT2 inhibitor use was associated with a 49% lower risk of nephrolithiasis compared with GLP-1 receptor agonists. Objective We examined the association between nephrolithiasis and the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin, using existing data from randomized clinical trials. Methods We pooled data from 15 081 T2D patients randomized to empagliflozin (n = 10 177) or placebo (n = 4904) from 20 phase I-IV trials, including the large cardiovascular outcome trial, EMPA-REG OUTCOME. Incident urinary tract stone events were captured using a predefined collection of MedRA terms. A sensitivity analysis using a narrower definition was also performed. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) and 95% CIs were calculated using the relative risk estimate, stratified by study. Results The median exposures to study drug were 543 days (placebo) and 549 days (empagliflozin); 183 patients experienced an incident urolithiasis during follow-up (placebo, 79; empagliflozin, 104), yielding annual incidence rates of 1.01 vs 0.63 events/100 patient-years in the 2 respective groups. The IRR was 0.64 (95% CI, 0.48-0.86), in favor of empagliflozin. In the sensitivity analysis, the results were similar (IRR, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.45-0.85]). Conclusion Compared with placebo, empagliflozin therapy was associated with an approximate 40% reduced risk of urinary tract stone events in…

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Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 4,904 participants or records.

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