Type 2 diabetes

Kidney disease

Mineralogy

Surgery

Endocrinology

Urology

EMPA

Placebo

Empagliflozin

Alternative medicine

Electron microprobe

Internal medicine

Confidence interval

Medicine

Chemistry

Renal function

Randomized controlled trial

Pathology

Diabetes mellitus

Journal of the American Society of Nephrology

Background Empagliflozin slowed the progression of CKD in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the EMPA-REG OUTCOME Trial. In a prespecified statistical approach, we assessed treatment differences in kidney function by analyzing slopes of eGFR changes. Methods Participants ( n =7020) were randomized (1:1:1) to empagliflozin 10 mg/d, empagliflozin 25 mg/d, or placebo added to standard of care. We calculated eGFR slopes using random-intercept/random-coefficient models for prespecified study periods: treatment initiation (baseline to week 4), chronic maintenance treatment (week 4 to last value on treatment), and post-treatment (last value on treatment to follow-up). Results Compared with placebo, empagliflozin was associated with uniform shifts in individual eGFR slopes across all periods. On treatment initiation, adjusted mean slope (eGFR change per week, ml/min per 1.73 m 2 ) decreased with empagliflozin (−0.77; 95% confidence interval, −0.83 to −0.71; placebo: 0.01; 95% confidence interval, −0.08 to 0.10; P &lt;0.001). However, annual mean slope (ml/min per 1.73 m 2 per year) did not decline with empagliflozin during chronic treatment (empagliflozin: 0.23; 95% confidence interval, 0.05 to 0.40; placebo: −1.46; 95% confidence interval, −1.74 to −1.17; P &lt;0.001). After drug cessation, the adjusted mean eGFR slope (ml/min per 1.73 m 2 per week) increased and mean eGFR returned toward baseline level only in the empagliflozin group (0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.49 to 0.62; placebo −0.02; 95% confidence interval, −0.12 to 0.08; P &lt;0.001). Results were consistent across patient subgroups at higher CKD risk. Conclusions The hemodynamic effects of empagliflozin, associated with reduction in intraglomerular pressure, may contribute to long-term preservation of kidney function.

Empagliflozin and Kidney Function Decline in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Slope Analysis from the EMPA-REG OUTCOME Trial