Hypoglycemia in People with Type 2 Diabetes and CKD

Among people with diabetes mellitus, CKD may promote hypoglycemia through altered clearance of glucose-lowering medications, decreased kidney gluconeogenesis, and blunted counter-regulatory response. We conducted a prospective observational study of hypoglycemia among 105 individuals with type 2 diabetes treated with insulin or a sulfonylurea using continuous glucose monitors.

We enrolled 81 participants with CKD, defined as eGFR<60 ml/min per 1.73 m², and 24 control participants with eGFR≥60 ml/min per 1.73 m² frequency-matched on age, duration of diabetes, hemoglobin A1c, and glucose-lowering medications. Each participant wore a continuous glucose monitor for two 6-day periods. We examined rates of sustained level 1 hypoglycemia (<70 mg/dl) and level 2 hypoglycemia (<54 mg/dl) among participants with CKD. We then tested differences compared with control participants as well as a second control population (n=73) using Poisson and linear regression, adjusting for age, sex, and race.

Over 890 total days of continuous glucose monitoring, participants with CKD were observed to have 255 episodes of level 1 hypoglycemia, of which 68 episodes reached level 2 hypoglycemia. Median rate of hypoglycemic episodes was 5.3 (interquartile range, 0.0-11.7) per 30 days and mean time spent in hypoglycemia was 28 (SD 37) minutes per day. Hemoglobin A1c and the glucose management indicator were the main clinical correlates of time in hypoglycemia (adjusted differences 6 [95% confidence interval, 2 to 10] and 13 [95% confidence interval, 7 to 20] fewer minutes per day per 1% higher hemoglobin A1c or glucose management indicator, respectively). Compared with control populations, participants with CKD were not observed to have significant differences in time in hypoglycemia (adjusted differences 4 [95% confidence interval, -12 to 20] and -12 [95% confidence interval, -29 to 5] minutes per day).

Among people with type 2 diabetes and moderate to severe CKD, hypoglycemia was common, particularly with tighter glycemic control, but not significantly different from groups with similar clinical characteristics and preserved eGFR.