Effect of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors on patients with essential hypertension and pre-hypertension: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are novel, hypoglycemic drugs exhibiting cardiovascular protective activities. If SGLT2 inhibitors can be successfully used as antihypertensive drugs, they can be administered to patients with both hypertension and type 2 diabetes, thus diminishing the risk of polypharmacy-related complications. AIM: The aim of this review was to evaluate the hypotensive efficacy of SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with hypertension and pre-hypertension. DATA SOURCES AND METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane for randomized controlled trials comparing SGLT2 inhibitors and a placebo in patients with essential hypertension and pre-hypertension. Our main outcome was the mean change in office blood pressure (BP) and body weight. We assessed the pooled data using a fixed-effects model. RESULTS: After screening 968 articles, nine trials were eligible (n = 2450 participants). Compared to the mean changes in systolic and diastolic BP in patients who were given a placebo, those in patients who used SGLT2 inhibitors were −5.04 mmHg and −1.67 mmHg, respectively. An intensive dose of SGLT2 inhibitors resulted in a stronger BP-lowering effect than the regular dose. Compared to that in the placebo group, the mean change in mean body weight was −1.74 kg in the SGLT2 inhibitor group. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the risk of overall adverse events. The pooled effect estimates remained similar across all residual studies and their subgroups in the leave-one-out sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSION: SGLT2 inhibitors had a statistically significant BP-lowering effect on hypertension and pre-hypertension, which was further enhanced with increased drug dosage. SGLT2 inhibitors have the potential to be used as antihypertensive agents in patients with hypertension complicated by type 2 diabetes.