medwireNews: Analysis of data from the EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial suggests that the beneficial effects of empagliflozin on mortality risk in patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease occur independently of its influence on traditional cardiovascular risk factors.
The main trial findings demonstrated that the addition of empagliflozin versus placebo to standard care reduced the risk for cardiovascular death by 38% and for all-cause mortality by 32%, David Fitchett (University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada) told delegates at the EASD annual meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.
Although there were small changes in traditional cardiovascular risk factors over the course of the study, the risk reduction for cardiovascular mortality with empagliflozin versus placebo was “largely unchanged” after adjustment for control of blood pressure, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), with corresponding reductions of 39%, 41%, and 38, and 39% when the analysis was adjusted for all three factors.
Similarly, empagliflozin reduced all-cause mortality risk by 33%, 34%, 33% and 33% relative to placebo after adjustment for control of blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, HbA1c, and all three variables, respectively.
“These results suggest that the mortality reductions in the EMPA-REG-OUTCOME trial were not driven by control of these standard cardiovascular risk factors during the trial,” concluded Fitchett.
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