Comparative Assessment of the Long-Term Effectiveness and Safety of Dapagliflozin and Empagliflozin as Add-on Therapy to Hypoglycemic Drugs in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

Background: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) reduce blood glucose, blood pressure, and body weight in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, the comparative long-term effectiveness and safety of SGLT2i among similar drugs, administered at different doses, have not been assessed. In this study, we compared the long-term effectiveness and safety of SGLT2i (dapagliflozin versus empagliflozin) as add-on therapy to hypoglycemic agents in T2D patients. Methods: This study was a single-center, 3-year, retrospective, observational study. For all patients in the study, drugs were evaluated for safety by documenting adverse drug reactions. The primary effectiveness was evaluated as the difference between hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) values obtained at baseline and those obtained after 36 months of treatment. The proportion of participants with HbA1c levels <7.0% and <6.5% was also analyzed. Results: In total, 680 patients were enrolled in this study. Using propensity score matching, 234 patients each from the dapagliflozin and empagliflozin groups were selected based on patient characteristics. After 36 months of treatment, clinical parameters (including HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose, alanine aminotransferase, triglyceride levels, body weight, and systolic blood pressure) decreased significantly in these groups. The changes from the baseline for the physiological values and clinical parameters did not vary among the different dose groups of SGLT2i. The incidence of adverse drug reactions was approximately 7-8%. All patients with observed serious adverse reactions were hospitalized for urinary tract infections. Conclusion: Our study showed that the long-term continuous use of either dapagliflozin or empagliflozin as add-on therapy to hypoglycemic drugs for T2D patients is synergistically effective for lowering blood glucose, reducing body weight, and stabilizing blood pressure. Additionally, there was no significant difference in efficacy between dapagliflozin and empagliflozin, even with the administration of different doses of these agents.

Study comparing the efficacy and renal safety for patients with diabetes switching from dapagliflozin to empagliflozin.

Background Previously, dapagliflozin was limited to patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m2, while empagliflozin can be used for those with an eGFR ≥ 45 mL/min/1.73 m2. Therefore dapagliflozin was switched to empagliflozin in many patients when eGFR decreased. However, the clinical efficacy and safety of these switcfhes are not clear. Objective In this study, we compared the efficacy and renal safety between patients switching from dapagliflozin to empagliflozin in patients. Setting This is a retrospective study of adult patients (aged ≥ 20 years) who had attended the Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital. Method This retrospective observational study included patients who were switched from dapagliflozin to empagliflozin. To assess the effect of other hypoglycemic drugs on efficacy, the types and dose alterations of other hypoglycemic drugs were classified on the defined daily dose (DDD). Main outcome measure The primary outcome measure was the change in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level after 6 months. Patients with HbA1c levels at or lower than the baseline value after 6 months were defined as effective and patients with levels higher than the baseline were defined as invalid. Safety was evaluated by comparing the difference of eGFR between the baseline value and 6 months after treatment. Results Overall, 111 patients were enrolled in the study. Six months after switching from dapagliflozin to empagliflozin, HbA1c significantly reduced, with no statistically significant difference observed in eGFR. In our study, 78 patients were assigned to the effective group (70.3%) and 33 patients were invalid (29.7%). When the other hypoglycemic drugs were grouped by total dosage, fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c only decreased significantly in the "DDD decrease" and "DDD increase" groups. Conclusion Our study showed that switching from dapagliflozin to empagliflozin in patients with type 2 diabetes was effective for blood glucose maintenance and caused no significant changes in renal function. In addition, compared to similar sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors, other hypoglycemic drugs may be factors that influence the efficacy of sugar-lowering treatments.

Comparison of long-term efficacy and renal safety of febuxostat and allopurinol in patients with chronic kidney diseases
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OBJECTIVE: Febuxostat, a novel non-purine selective xanthine oxidase inhibitor, is a recommended treatment option for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hyperuricemia. There are only a few trials on the long-term use of allopurinol and febuxostat for CKD. In this study, we compared the efficacy of allopurinol and febuxostat and their effects on renal function in patients with CKD and hyperuricemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of adult patients with hyperuricemia and CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≤ 60 mL/min/1.73m2) treated with febuxostat or allopurinol. The proportion of patients who achieved the treatment goal and the difference in efficacy between different drug doses were evaluated. Further, the effects on cardiovascular and renal functions were assessed. Cardiovascular risk is defined as cardiovascular events occurring after treatment initiation. RESULTS: We enrolled 316 patients in the study, with 83 and 233 patients in the allopurinol and febuxostat groups, respectively. The application of linear mixed model for analysis revealed that febuxostat 40 mg was more effective than allopurinol 100 mg in reducing the serum uric acid level. The results indicated that the long-term eGFR slope of the febuxostat group was positive, whereas that of the allopurinol group was negative. CONCLUSION: The results showed that, in patients with CKD and hyperuricemia, febuxostat can be used to reduce the serum uric acid level. The long-term use of febuxostat may exert a protective effect on the kidneys. Moreover, there were no obvious adverse reactions and the patients tolerated the drug well.