Adverse cardiovascular, limb, and renal outcomes in patients with diabetes after peripheral artery disease revascularization treated with sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors versus dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors

AIMS: The effectiveness and limb safety of sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) for patients with type-2 diabetes (T2D) who have received peripheral artery disease (PAD) revascularization are unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this nationwide retrospective cohort study, we identified a total of 2,455 and 8,695 patients with T2D who had undergone PAD revascularization and received first prescriptions for SGLT2i and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4i), respectively, between May 1, 2016, and December 31, 2019. We used 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) to balance covariates between the two study groups. Patients were followed up from the drug index date until the occurrence of specified outcomes, death, discontinuation of the index drug, or the end of the study period, whichever occurred first. After PSM, we observed that compared with DPP4i, SGLT2i were associated with comparable risks of ischemic stroke, acute myocardial infarction, and heart failure hospitalization but were associated with a lower risk of cardiac death (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.40–0.90]; p = 0.0126). Regarding major limb outcomes, SGLT2i were associated with comparable risks of repeated revascularization and lower limb amputation compared with DPP4i. SGLT2i were associated with a lower risk of composite renal outcomes (HR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.27–0.59; p < 0.0001) compared with DPP4i. CONCLUSION: In a real-world study of patients with T2D who had undergone PAD revascularization, SGLT2i were associated with lower risks of cardiac death and composite renal outcomes but not associated with increased risks of adverse limb events compared with DPP4i. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13098-023-00982-6.