Impact of canagliflozin in natriuretic peptides in patients with type 2 diabetes after hospitalization for acute heart failure

Abstract Background Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have demonstrated to reduce the risk of hospitalization for heart failure (HF) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). We aimed to assess the changes in N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-ProBNP) concentrations in a cohort of patients hospitalized for HF according to whether or not they received canagliflozin at discharge. Methods This cohort study included all patients with T2D admitted for HF from January 2017 to December 2019 in a single center. We excluded patients whose treatment with SGLT2 inhibitors were contraindicated (eGFR ≤45 ml/min/1.73 m2) and those who had other SGLT2 inhibitors than canagliflozin in their treatment at discharged. All patients had received a primary diagnosis of acute decompensated heart failure, including signs and symptoms of fluid overload and a concentration of NT-ProBNP of 1400 pg/mL at least. NT-ProBNP concentrations were collected at 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after hospitalization with laboratory records if available. The aim of this study is to compare mean NT-ProBNP levels at hospital discharge and 3, 6 and 12 moths of follow-up in patients treated with and without canagliflozin. Results We included a total of 102 patients, 45 patients (44.1%) were prescribed canagliflozin and the remaining 57 (55.9%) were not prescribed any SGLT2 inhibitors (control group). There were no significant differences in clinical and comorbidities in both groups, except for age; slightly younger in the canagliflozin group (69,2±10,3 vs 73,2±11,1; p=0,04). Treatment at discharge was also similar, patients in the control group received more dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors (21.1% vs 6.7%; p=0.04). Low rate of patients received sacubitril-valsartan (15,6%) in the canagliflozin group and 14% in the control group. More than a half of patients in both groups have HF with reduced ejection fraction. Mean levels of peptides were similar in both groups at hospital admission and discharge. During the first period of 3 months, we observed a decreased of NT-ProBNP concentration in both groups, but significantly inferior in canagliflozin group (p