Use of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors and risk of serious renal events: Scandinavian cohort study

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between use of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and risk of serious renal events in data from routine clinical practice. DESIGN: Cohort study using an active comparator, new user design and nationwide register data. SETTING: Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, 2013-18. PARTICIPANTS: Cohort of 29 887 new users of SGLT2 inhibitors (follow-up time: dapagliflozin 66.1%; empagliflozin 32.6%; canagliflozin 1.3%) and 29 887 new users of an active comparator, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, matched 1:1 on the basis of a propensity score with 57 variables. Mean follow-up time was 1.7 (SD 1.0) years. EXPOSURES: SGLT2 inhibitors versus dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, defined by filled prescriptions and analysed according to intention to treat. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome was serious renal events, a composite including renal replacement therapy, death from renal causes, and hospital admission for renal events. Secondary outcomes were the individual components of the main outcome. RESULTS: The mean age of the study population was 61.3 (SD 10.5) years; 11 108 (19%) had cardiovascular disease, and 1974 (3%) had chronic kidney disease. Use of SGLT2 inhibitors, compared with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, was associated with a reduced risk of serious renal events (2.6 events per 1000 person years versus 6.2 events per 1000 person years; hazard ratio 0.42 (95% confidence interval 0.34 to 0.53); absolute difference −3.6 (–4.4 to −2.8) events per 1000 person years). In secondary outcome analyses, the hazard ratio for use of SGLT2 inhibitors versus dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors was 0.32 (0.22 to 0.47) for renal replacement therapy, 0.41 (0.32 to 0.52) for hospital admission for renal events, and 0.77 (0.26 to 2.23) for death from renal causes. In sensitivity analyses in each of the Swedish and Danish parts of the cohort, the model was further adjusted for glycated haemoglobin and estimated glomerular filtration rate (Sweden and Denmark) and for blood pressure, body mass index, and smoking (Sweden only); in these analyses, the hazard ratio moved from 0.41 (0.26 to 0.66) to 0.50 (0.31 to 0.81) in Sweden and from 0.42 (0.32 to 0.56) to 0.55 (0.41 to 0.74) in Denmark. CONCLUSIONS: In this analysis using nationwide data from three countries, use of SGLT2 inhibitors, compared with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, was associated with a significantly reduced risk of serious renal events.