Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 23, 2025

5/6 Nephrectomy Using Sharp Bipolectomy Via Midline Laparotomy in Rats
Published on: April 4, 2025
Is There a Role for SGLT2 Inhibitors in Patients with End-Stage Kidney Disease?
Rehma Siddiqui1, Yoshitsugu Obi2, Neville R Dossabhoy1
1Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS, USA.
Insights
Sodium-glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors show promise for dialysis patients at high cardiovascular risk. These drugs may offer direct cardiac benefits by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress, addressing an unmet need in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) treatment.
Area of Science:
- Nephrology
- Cardiology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) significantly increases cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, the primary cause of death in dialysis patients.
- Existing therapies inadequately manage this elevated CVD risk, indicating a need for novel treatments.
- Sodium-glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have shown cardiovascular and renal benefits in other populations but lack data in ESKD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the potential cardiovascular benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with ESKD.
- To explore the direct cardiac effects of SGLT2 inhibitors in the context of dialysis.
- To examine current evidence and ongoing research regarding SGLT2 inhibitors for dialysis patients.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent clinical and preclinical studies on SGLT2 inhibitors in dialysis patients.
- Analysis of proposed mechanisms for direct cardiac benefits, including effects on intracellular ion levels, inflammation, autophagy, oxidative stress, and endoplasmic reticulum stress.
- Examination of current clinical evidence, experimental data, safety concerns, and ongoing trials.
Main Results:
- Preclinical and clinical data suggest SGLT2 inhibitors may benefit dialysis patients' cardiovascular health.
- Potential benefits include indirect effects (preserving kidney function, improving anemia) and direct cardiac effects (reducing inflammation, oxidative stress, ER stress).
- Ongoing trials are investigating the safety and efficacy of SGLT2 inhibitors in the dialysis population.
Conclusions:
- SGLT2 inhibitors present a potential therapeutic strategy for improving cardiovascular outcomes in dialysis patients.
- Further research, including dedicated clinical trials, is essential to confirm the safety and effectiveness of SGLT2 inhibitors in ESKD.
- Addressing the high cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients remains a critical unmet need that SGLT2 inhibitors may help fulfill.
Purpose Of Review:
Chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) are well-established risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of mortality in the dialysis population. Conventional therapies, such as statins, blood pressure control, and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockade, have inadequately addressed this cardiovascular risk, highlighting the unmet need for effective treatment strategies. Sodium-glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have demonstrated significant renal and cardiovascular benefits among patients with type 2 diabetes, heart failure, or CKD at risk of progression. Unfortunately, efficacy data in dialysis patients is lacking as ESKD was an exclusion criterion for all major clinical trials of SGLT2 inhibitors. This review explores the potential of SGLT2 inhibitors in improving cardiovascular outcomes among patients with ESKD, focusing on their direct cardiac effects.
Recent Findings:
Recent clinical and preclinical studies have shown promising data for the application of SGLT2 inhibitors to the dialysis population. SGLT2 inhibitors may provide cardiovascular benefits to dialysis patients, not only indirectly by preserving the remaining kidney function and improving anemia but also directly by lowering intracellular sodium and calcium levels, reducing inflammation, regulating autophagy, and alleviating oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress within cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells. This review examines the current clinical evidence and experimental data supporting the use of SGLT2 inhibitors, discusses its potential safety concerns, and outlines ongoing clinical trials in the dialysis population. Further research is needed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of SGLT2 inhibitor use among patients with ESKD.
Related Concept Videos
Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 Inhibitors
Oral Hypoglycemic Agents: Biguanides and Glitazones
Secondary Active Transport
Glucose Transporters
Facilitated diffusion-glucose transporters (GLUTs) are encoded by the solute-linked carrier (SLC) family 2, subfamily A gene family, or SLC2A. The 14 GLUT protein members are distributed into three classes:
Oral Hypoglycemic Agents: Sulfonylureas
Oral Hypoglycemic Agents: Glinides

