Effects of Empagliflozin on Fluid Overload, Weight, and Blood Pressure in CKD

What is it about?

Sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors are drugs which cause increased salt and sugar to pass into the urine and are now known to be highly effective treatments to reduce risk of kidney or heart disease complications. The mechanisms for heart benefits are not fully understood. Empagliflozin is one example of an SGLT-2 inhibitor which was tested in a large trial of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) called EMPA-KIDNEY. A subset of trial participants had additional assessments done using a tool called bioimpedance which estimates body water and fat. The substudy showed that in CKD, empagliflozin reduces body water but did not appear to reduce body fat (on average participants lost nearly 1Kg in body water). These benefits were achieve safely and were similar in people with and without diabetes, and irrespective of levels of kidney or heart function.

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