SGLT2 inhibitors improve biomarkers indicative of CVD risk in diabetes patients: Study

Turkey: Both dapagliflozin and empagliflozin significantly improve plasma atherogenic biomarkers (AIP and TyG indexes), an indicator of cardiovascular risk, in patients with type 2 diabetes, finds a recent study in the journal Minerva Endocrinology. 

Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) defined as the logarithm to the base 10 of the ratio of fasting plasma TG (mg/dL) to HDL-C [log (TG/HDL-C)], triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein (TG-to-HDL-C) ratio, and the triglyceride glucose (TyG) index which is calculated as Ln (fasting TG (mg/dL) × fasting blood glucose (mg/dL)/2) are some of the cost-effective, non-invasive, and predictive tools for predicting CVD risk in diabetes patients. These tools are indirect markers of atherosclerosis.

Dapagliflozin and empagliflozin have shown to exhibit cardiovascular beneficial effects. Ozlem Ustay, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Marmara University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey, and colleagues, therefore, aimed to evaluate the effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) on AIP, TyG index, and TG-to-HDL-C ratio in patients with type 2 diabetes.

For this purpose, the researchers conducted a single-center, retrospective, observational study. It included 143 patients with type 2 diabetes s who were prescribed SGLT2i in the endocrinology outpatient clinic between January 2017 and June 2019. Sixty-six patients were prescribed dapagliflozin (46.2%), and 77 were prescribed empagliflozin (53.8%).