Dapagliflozin Well Tolerated in COVID-19 Patients, Regardless of eGFR

FRIDAY, April 29, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The effects of dapagliflozin are similar for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 and ≥60 mL/min per 1.73 m², according to a study published online April 28 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Hiddo J. L. Heerspink, Ph.D., Pharm.D., from the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a secondary analysis of the Dapagliflozin in Respiratory Failure in Patients with COVID-19 (DARE-19) trial, which randomly assigned 1,250 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and cardiometabolic risk factors to dapagliflozin or placebo. Dual primary outcomes (time to new or worsened organ dysfunction or death, and a hierarchical composite end point of recovery) and key secondary kidney outcomes were assessed among those with baseline eGFR <60 and ≥60 mL/min per 1.73 m².

The researchers found that across eGFR subgroups, the effect of dapagliflozin versus placebo was consistent on the primary prevention outcome (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.58 to 1.10), primary recovery outcome (win ratio, 1.09; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.97 to 1.22), and the composite kidney outcome (hazard ratio, 0.74; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.50 to 1.07; P for interaction, 0.98, 0.67, and 0.44, respectively). The effects of dapagliflozin on acute kidney injury were also similar for those with eGFR <60 mL/min per 1.73 m² (hazard ratio, 0.71; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.29 to 1.77) and ≥60 mL/min per 1.73 m² (hazard ratio, 0.69; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.37 to 1.29). In patients with eGFR <60 and ≥60 mL/min per 1.73 m², dapagliflozin was well tolerated.

“These new data from DARE-19 reinforce the safety of dapagliflozin in acutely ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19 even in those with reduced kidney function who are at particularly high risk of acute kidney injury,” Heerspink said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, which manufactures dapagliflozin and funded the study.

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