Mount Sinai-led study demonstrates kidney benefits of drug used in diabetes and heart failure
SGLT2 inhibitors have become a major drug used to treat diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease. However, there have been questions as to whether it is safe to use these drugs in patients after recent heart attack due to concerns about harming kidney function in potentially unstable patients.
This secondary analysis of the EMPACT-MI trial demonstrates the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin preserved kidney function and was safe to initiate in heart attack patients. Researchers found that after heart attack patients were on the drug for two years, their kidney function was stable and unharmed, while patients on placebo had significant worsening of their kidney function.