Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors in Heart Failure - a review

Abstract

Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors are a class of drugs that have recently been studied for their potential benefits in heart failure. The purpose of this review is to expose, analyze and discuss the existing evidence on this topic. For this literature review, eight articles, selected on PubMed, corresponding to cardiovascular outcomes clinical trials where the use of sodium-glucose co-transporter inhibitors was studied in both patients diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular risk factors, and patients diagnosed with heart failure. Subsequently, these were individually analyzed regarding the study population, intervention and outcomes. One article regarding the use of Empagliflozin on acute decompensated heart failure was also included. The main adverse effects of each study were also discussed. Within the eight clinical trials, a total of 59 747 patients were analyzed. The reduction of hospitalizations for heart failure was constant in all clinical trials, in patients with and without type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Other parameters such as reduced cardiovascular mortality were also reported in several of the clinical trials. This pharmacological class was shown to be quite safe, and severe adverse events were rare. Inhibitors of the sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 proved to be drugs with important potential in preventing heart failure and with a favorable safety profile.