Kidney Outcomes with GLP-1RAs, SGLT2 Inhibitors, DPP-4 Inhibitors, and Sulfonylureas in Type 2 Diabetes and Moderate Cardiovascular Risk

Key Points Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists were superior to dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor and sulfonylurea for preventing kidney complications in patients with type 2 diabetes at moderate cardiovascular disease risk. Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor therapy compared favorably with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists for kidney disease outcomes. Background CKD is a serious diabetes-related complication. While guidelines recommend use of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) therapies to mitigate cardiorenal risk in high-risk patients, the benefit of early initiation of these agents relative to other commonly prescribed glucose-lowering agents in patients at lower baseline cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk remains less clear. Methods This retrospective observational study emulated an idealized target trial using claims data from OptumLabs data warehouse to test the comparative association of treatment with a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP-4i), SGLT2i, GLP-1RA, or sulfonylurea (SU) on a primary kidney composite outcome of incident CKD stages 3–5, kidney failure, or need for KRT in patients with type 2 diabetes and moderate CVD risk. A secondary composite outcome included all components of the primary composite outcome plus death. Results A total of 364,714 adults aged 21 years or older initiating treatment with a DPP-4i ( N =78,843), GLP-1RA ( N =42,049), SGLT2i ( N =45,466), or SU ( N =198,356) were identified. Relative to DPP-4i, SGLT2i (hazard ratio [HR], 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.67 to 0.74; P < 0.001) and GLP-1RA (HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.83 to 0.92; P < 0.001) treatment was superior for the primary composite outcome. Similarly, SGLT2i (HR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.73) and GLP-1RA (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.82 to 0.91) treatment was associated with risk reductions for the primary outcome relative to SU treatment. When comparing SGLT2i with GLP-1RA therapy, SGLT2is were superior for the primary composite outcome (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.75 to 0.86; P < 0.001). Similar findings were observed for the secondary composite outcome across all comparisons. Conclusions SGLT2is and GLP-1RAs were superior to DPP-4is and SUs for preventing kidney complications in a type 2 diabetes population with moderate baseline CVD risk. Clinical Trial registry name and registration number: NCT05214573.