This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

VIDEO: What PCPs need to know about SGLT-2 inhibitors in patients with CKD

PHILADELPHIA — Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors have been shown to be safe and effective second-line therapy in managing diabetes in multiple clinical trials, but clinicians need to consider their side effect profile when they are used in patients with chronic kidney disease, according to a speaker at the American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Meeting.

Canagliflozin, dapagliflozin and empagliflozin have been shown in their respective clinical trials to reduce cardiovascular events and mortality, as well as improve kidney function, in patients with chronic kidney disease, according to Joseph Vassalotti, MD, chief medical officer for the National Kidney Foundation and clinical associate in the department of nephrology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

While generally beneficial, there are side effects that clinicians should consider, and none of the agents are approved for use in patients with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) lower than 45 mL/min/1.73 m², he said.

“These drugs have been associated with genitourinary infections, so that is a history or a risk that clinicians should consider,” Vassalotti told Healio Primary Care Today.

Disclosure: Vassalotti reports being a consultant for Merck.