Comparative Efficacy and Safety Among Sodium-glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors in Type 2 Diabetes – Results from a Retrospective Single-centre Study

Introduction: This retrospective analysis compared the real-world effectiveness and safety of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in India. Methods: All patients initiated on canagliflozin (C; 100 mg), dapagliflozin (D; 10 mg) and empagliflozin (E; 10 mg) between January and December 2016 were identified from an urban outpatient facility. Intra- and inter-group changes in glycaemic and metabolic parameters were recorded. Results: At week 48 (median follow-up), mean changes from baseline in the C (n=29), D (n=65) and E groups (n=27), respectively, were -1.3% (p=0.0002), -0.9% (p<0.0001) and -0.7% (p=0.34) for glycated haemoglobin; -60.9 mg/dL (p=0.00), -50.2 mg/dL (p=0.00) and -46.7 mg/dL (p=0.01) for fasting plasma glucose; -100.6 mg/dL (p=0.00), -79.8 mg/dL (p=0.00) and -90.2 mg/dL (p=0.00) for postprandial plasma glucose; -1.7 kg (p<0.05), -2.1 kg (p=0.0004) and -3.7 kg (p=0.002) for body weight; -5.2 mmHg (p=0.10), -5.8 mmHg (p=0.009); 0.0 mmHg (p=0.80) for systolic blood pressure and -12.2% (p=0.26), -9.2% (p=0.27) and -9.7% (p=0.50) for proportion of patients taking insulin. The incidence rate of hypoglycaemia was 2.4% for C, 1.3% for D, and 6.4% for E group. No significant inter-group differences were noted. Conclusion: Overall intra-group changes in glycaemic and metabolic parameters were significant; however, inter-group changes among SGLT2i were not significant, thereby indicating a class effect of the efficacy and safety parameters.