ASN: Empagliflozin Offers Lasting Cardiorenal Benefit in CKD Patients
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Oct. 28, 2024 -- Empagliflozin continues to offer cardiorenal benefits for up to 12 months after discontinuation among patients with chronic kidney disease at risk for progression, according to a study published online Oct. 25 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with Kidney Week, the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology, held from Oct. 23 to 27 in San Diego.
William G. Herrington, M.B.B.S., from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and colleagues randomly assigned 6,609 patients with chronic kidney disease to receive empagliflozin (10 mg once daily) or matching placebo and followed them for a median of two years in an active trial. Surviving patients who consented were observed for an additional two years (4,891 patients enrolled [74 percent]). During the posttrial period, no trial empagliflozin or placebo was administered, but local practitioners could prescribe open-label sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, including open-label empagliflozin.
The researchers found that the use of open-label SGLT2 inhibitors was similar in the two groups during the posttrial period (43 and 40 percent in the empagliflozin and placebo groups, respectively). A primary outcome event (kidney disease progression or cardiovascular death) occurred in 26.2 and 30.3 percent of patients in the empagliflozin and placebo groups, respectively, during the combined active-trial and posttrial periods (hazard ratio, 0.79). The hazard ratio for a primary outcome event during the posttrial period only was 0.87.
"In a broad range of patients with chronic kidney disease, empagliflozin continued to have additional cardiorenal benefits for up to 12 months after it was discontinued," the authors write.
Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, which manufacture empagliflozin and funded the study.
Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted October 2024
Read this next
Empagliflozin Has Kidney Protective Effects in Acute Myocardial Infarction
THURSDAY, June 26, 2025 -- Empagliflozin has kidney protective effects and reduces heart failure outcomes across baseline kidney function among patients with acute myocardial...
Biomarker Panel Improves Prediction of CKD Progression in Children
TUESDAY, June 24, 2025 -- A biomarker panel can improve prediction of chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression in children, according to a study published in the June issue of the...
Worse Outcomes Seen for Unvaccinated Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19, AKI
WEDNESDAY, June 18, 2025 -- For patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection and acute kidney injury (AKI), those who are unvaccinated have worse outcomes in terms of kidney...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.