Aims: Diabetic macular edema (DME) leads to impaired vision. The first line of treatment is intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agent. However, there are patients who are refractory to this. We reported patients whose DME were refractory to anti-VEGF agents and showed improvement by using sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) . The effectiveness of SGLT2is for DME was assessed using a health insurance claim database.

Methods: The JMDC inc. database covering million Japanese patients between 2005-20was used for analysis. Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) with DME were included, and those who were undergo dialysis, had other ocular diseases that may be treated by anti-VEGF agents, or were not on treatment with any antidiabetic drug introduced after 2014 were excluded. Propensity score matching was performed between SGLT2i users and non-users. The frequency and the duration of intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF agent after the period from the start of SGLT2is or other antidiabetic drugs were analyzed.

Results: In this study, 340 matched patients with T2D were analyzed. Initiation of SGLT2is revealed a decrease in the frequency of anti-VEGF agent injection (2.7 ± 4.1 vs. 3.8 ± 4.6 times, p < 0.001; the Wilcoxon signed rank test, p < 0.001, 95%CI -0.25 to -0.085; the Poisson regression, p < 0.001, HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.73 to 0.87; the recurrent event analysis) and an extension in the duration for the requirement of the first injection of anti-VEGF agent (the number of patients who received no anti-VEGF agents, 96 vs. 32, p < 0.001; the log-rank test) .

Conclusion: Using SGLT2is for patients with T2D complicated by DME extended the duration for the requirement of the first anti-VEGF agent injection and decreased the frequency of anti-VEGF agent injection. SGLT2is may be an option for DME treatment.

Disclosure

R.Ishibashi: Research Support; Astellas Pharma Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Daiichi Sankyo, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., YL Biologics, ZERIA Pharmaceutical Co.,Ltd. E.Kawakami: None. M.Koshizaka: None. Y.Maezawa: None. K.Yokote: None. Y.Takatsuna: None. T.Tatsumi: None. S.Yamamoto: None. Y.Inaba: None. Y.Shiko: None.

© 2022 by the American Diabetes Association
2022
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