Ipragliflozin may help correct eGFR in type 2 diabetes

Ipragliflozin appears to be an effective renoprotective agent in patients with type 2 diabetes, a new study has found.

The researchers conducted a multicentre prospective study of 407 type 2 diabetes patients who were given 50 mg ipragliflozin once daily. Study outcomes were glycaemic control, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and adverse events, all of which were evaluated after 4 and 12–108 weeks of treatment.

Participants were grouped according to eGFR: ≥90 (n=141), ≥60 to <90 (n=210), ≥45 to <60 (n=41) and ≥30 to <45 (n=15) mL/min/1.73 m².

In the top two categories of eGFR, ipragliflozin treatment resulted in a significant decrease in measurement between weeks 4 and 104. In the third tier, eGFR increased significantly between weeks 36 and 52. No such temporal change was reported for the lowest group.

Further analyses confirmed that high baseline eGFR significantly increased the likelihood of decreasing eGFR in the first 4 weeks and from baseline to 104 weeks. Other important predictors were advanced age and the female sex. There were no predictors for the rate of change in eGFR from week 4 to week 104.

In terms of safety, the researchers documented cystitis as the only adverse event of interest, which occurred at a significantly greater frequency in the lowest eGFR tier. All other adverse events were comparable in incidence across all eGFR groups.

“In conclusion, ipragliflozin reduced eGFR and corrected hyperfiltration in cases with high eGFR. This fact suggested the possibility of increasing eGFR in cases with low eGFR and exerting a renoprotective effect,” the researchers said.