Efficacy of canagliflozin combined with antidiabetic drugs in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus: Meta‐analysis of randomized control trials

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: Canagliflozin has been proposed as an effective treatment for type 2 diabetes. This meta‐analysis of randomized control trials aimed to evaluate the effect of canagliflozin combined with other hypoglycemic drugs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and ClinicalTrials.gov for randomized control trials comparing canagliflozin combined with conventional antidiabetic drugs vs placebo. Our main end‐points were glycemic control and change in weight. We assessed pooled data by use of a random‐effects model. RESULT: Of 161 identified studies, six were eligible and were included in our analysis (n = 4670 participants). Compared with the placebo, mean changes in glycosylated hemoglobin were −0.60% (95% confidence interval −0.67 to −0.54%; I (2) = 0%) for canagliflozin 100 mg, and −0.76% (95% confidence interval −0.84 to −0.68%; I (2) = 20%) for canagliflozin 300 mg with bodyweight loss. CONCLUSION: Canagliflozin as an add‐on drug to other antidiabetic drugs effectively lowers blood glucose without significant weight gain.