The use of a novel non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist finerenone for the treatment of chronic heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist finerenone (BAY 94–8862) has been used to treat chronic heart failure (CHF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, conflicting results were reported for its efficacy and safety. The study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of finerenone versus spironolactone or eplerenone in patients with chronic heart failure. METHODS: Electronic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CENTRAL were searched from inception to December 2017 for randomized controlled trials assessing finerenone treatment in patients with chronic heart failure. Data concerning the study's design, patients’ characteristics, and outcomes were extracted. Risk ratio (RR) and mean differences (MD) were calculated using either fixed or random effects models. RESULTS: Three trials with 1520 CHF patients were included in the systematic review. In terms of anti-ventricular remodeling, we calculated the effective number of cases with a 30% reduction in NT-proBNP. Finerenone was equivalent to the existing steroidal mineralocorticoid antagonist (P < .05). However, the efficacy of finerenone appeared to be dose-dependent. At a dose of 10 mg/d finerenone was found to be marginally better than that of steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) (RR = 1.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.88, 1.57, P > .05). The incidence of treatment-related adverse events (TEAEs) of finerenone at 10 mg/d was significantly lower than 25 to 50 mg/d of steroidal MRAs (RR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.66–0.99, P = .04). Moreover, the serum potassium levels in the finerenone 10 mg/d group were lower than those in the 25 to 50 mg/d steroidal MRAs group (MD = –0.14, 95% CI –0.30–0.02, P = .09), whereas the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was higher in finerenone versus steroidal MRAs treated patients (MD = 2.07, 95% CI –0.04–4.17, P = .05). CONCLUSIONS: Finerenone reduced NT-proBNP level, urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR), and other biochemical indicators, in a dose-dependent manner. In terms of anti-ventricular remodeling in patient with chronic heart failure, finerenone at 10 mg/d is as effective as 20 to 50 mg/d of steroidal MRAs. However, finerenone is much safer to patients with chronic kidney disease.