Hypoglycemic agents and prognostic outcomes of chronic kidney disease patients with type 2 diabetes

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) poses a financial burden on most patients from low/ middle income countries. Glycaemic control with affordable hypoglycemic agents may influence on the prognosis of diabetic nephropathy. Objectives: We aimed to compare the rates of CKD progression and proteinuria in the type 2 diabetic population in response to the use of various hypoglycemic agents. Patients and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study of a total of 250 patients of Afro-Caribbean descent at the University hospital of the West Indies between 2018 and 2019 was conducted. The use of hypoglycaemic agents and changes in albuminuria were calculated as odds ratios with a 95% confidence interval (CI). A P value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Of 250 patients with diabetic nephropathy, the number of rapid CKD progression was highest in patients on insulin (26.3%). In comparison, number of rapid progressions in patients receiving metformin, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4 inhibitors), sulfonylurea and pioglitazone were 19.1%, 22.2%, 21.9% and 20%, respectively. After eliminating confounding factors, comparison within the group analysis on DPP-4 inhibitors (n= 171) demonstrated 62.6% significant improvement in quantitative proteinuria with reduction of mean spot urine albumin creatinine ratio (ACR) from 362.1 ±338.9 mg/g to 303 ±300.1 mg/g (ORs, 0.77; 95% CI 0.41 to 0.97; P = 0.03). Conclusion: Type 2 diabetic patients requiring insulin were found to have progression of CKD than patients on oral hypoglycaemic agents. Among the affordable oral hypoglycaemic agents, DPP-4 inhibitors had an association with reduction in albuminuria.