Efficacy of sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors as an adjunct treatment for patients with diabetes type 2

Abstract Objective To analyze the effect of sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in a group of insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) patients. Patients and methods One hundred and five insulin treated T2D patients were enrolled. Primary endpoints were: fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, weight, total insulin doses (TDI), total basal insulin (TDB) and total rapid insulin (TDR). Secondary variables were: total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (cLDL), HDL cholesterol (cHDL), triglycerides and systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure. Safety and tolerance were evaluated through the appearance of severe hypoglycemia, ketoacidosis and infections. Results After 4 months follow-up, a 0.7 (1.0)% HbA1c reduction was found, accompanied by a −2.8 (11.5) UI/day TDI decrease. Weight dropped for 73.7% of patients, with an average −2.0 (2.7) kg reduction. A global cHDL increase was noted after treatment, while no differences were observed for total cholesterol, triglycerides or cLDL. SBP dropped significantly, but no change in DBP was observed. Conclusion The use of SGLT2 inhibitors in insulin treated T2D patients resulted in reduction of HbA1c, which was associated to weight loss, cHDL increase and SBP decrease.