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Preventing and Treating Heart Failure with Sodium-Glucose Co-Transporter 2 Inhibitors
Muthiah Vaduganathan1, James L Januzzi2
1Brigham and Women's Hospital Heart & Vascular Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
Insights
Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors effectively reduce heart failure events in type 2 diabetes patients. This therapy offers a new approach for preventing heart failure in at-risk individuals.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Endocrinology
- Nephrology
Background:
- Heart failure is a significant complication in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), increasing morbidity and mortality.
- Limited therapeutic options previously existed to mitigate this excess risk.
- Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors offer novel multisystem health benefits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of SGLT2 inhibitors in reducing heart failure events in patients with T2DM.
- To explore the role of SGLT2 inhibitors in preventing heart failure in at-risk populations.
- To assess the potential of SGLT2 inhibitors in treating heart failure.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of three large cardiovascular outcomes trials involving patients with T2DM and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
- Review of a trial demonstrating canagliflozin's effect on heart failure events in T2DM patients with albuminuric chronic kidney disease.
Main Results:
- Consistent reductions in heart failure events observed across multiple trials with SGLT2 inhibitors.
- Significant reduction in heart failure events shown by canagliflozin in T2DM patients with albuminuric chronic kidney disease.
Conclusions:
- SGLT2 inhibitors represent a crucial new therapeutic strategy for preventing heart failure in T2DM patients.
- Ongoing research is investigating SGLT2 inhibitors for treating heart failure in broader patient populations, including those without T2DM.
Abstract:
Heart failure is a common complication among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and is associated with significantly increased risks of subsequent morbidity and mortality. Until recently, therapies and strategies were lacking to attenuate this excess risk of heart failure in this population. Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors represent a unique class of glucose-lowering therapies that have multisystem health benefits. Three large cardiovascular outcomes trials have demonstrated consistent reductions in heart failure events among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with, or at risk for, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Another trial recently showed that an SGLT2 inhibitor, canagliflozin, also significantly reduced heart failure events among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and albuminuric chronic kidney disease. The SGLT2 inhibitor class represents an important new therapeutic approach for the prevention of heart failure in at-risk patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and is actively being studied for use in treating patients with heart failure (with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus). (Supplementary video "Preventing and Treating Heart Failure with Sodium-Glucose Co-Transporter 2 Inhibitors" is available online.).
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