SGLT2 inhibitors use tied to lower pneumonia risk in diabetics: Study

China: Patients with type 2 diabetes using SGLT2 inhibitors are at a significantly lower risk of pneumonia and pneumonia mortality versus those using DPP4 Iinhibitors, reveals a reent study. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism on 08 November 2021.

Diabetes patients are known to be at a higher risk of pneumonia and pneumonia mortality. Sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) are the latest class of glucose-lowerinf agents that have shown to reduce pneumonia risk in clinical trials. However, not much is known about the real-world effectiveness of SGLT2is on the risk of pneumonia. To determine the same, Ching-Lung Cheung, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China, and the team aimed to investigate the associations between SGLT2is use and the risk of pneumonia and pneumonia mortality versus dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4is) using an electronic medical database in Hong Kong in a A retrospective cohort study. 

The "prevalent new-user" design was adopted to account for the previous exposure to the study drugs being compared. To balance the baseline characteristics of the 2 groups, propensity score (PS) matching (1:4) was used. 

The researchers collected electronic health data of type 2 diabetes patients using SGLT2is and DPP4is between 2015 and 2018 from the Clinical Data Analysis and Reporting System. The main outcomes were pneumonia incidence and mortality. 

The PS-matched cohort consisted of 6664 users of SGLT2is and 26 656 users of DPP4is, and were followed for a mean duration of 3.8 years. 

The researchers concluded, compared with DPP4is, SGLT2is use was associated with a reduced risk of pneumonia and pneumonia mortality in a real-world setting.

Reference:

Philip C M Au, Kathryn C B Tan, Bernard M Y Cheung, Ian C K Wong, Ying Wong, Ching-Lung Cheung, Association Between SGLT2 Inhibitors vs DPP-4 Inhibitors and Risk of Pneumonia Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2021;, dgab818, https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgab818