Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors compared with glucagon-like-peptide-1 receptor agonists and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in type 2 diabetes: a nationwide nested case-control study

Aims: Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2is) are antidiabetic drugs that have beneficial direct effects on the myocardium by impacting cardiac ion channels and exchangers that control cardiac electrophysiology. We investigated the relationship between SGLT-2is in comparison to glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1as) and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Using data from Danish registries, we conducted a nationwide nested case-control study in a cohort of individuals with type 2 diabetes between 2013 and 2019. Cases were defined as OHCA victims from presumed cardiac causes and each case was randomly matched with five controls without OHCA based on age, sex, and index-date (OHCA date). Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of OHCA comparing SGLT-2i use with GLP-1as (reference).

Results: The study population consisted of 3618 OHCA cases and 18 090 matched controls. SGLT-2i was used by 91 cases and 593 controls, and was associated with reduced odds of OHCA compared with use of GLP-1a after controlling for the relevant confounders (adjusted OR 0.76 [95% CI:0.58-0.99]). The adjusted OR of OHCA associated with SGLT-2i use did not vary significantly by sex (P-value interaction: 0.461), pre-existing cardiac disease (P-value interaction: 0.762), heart failure (P-value interaction: 0.891), diabetes duration (P-value interaction: 0.101), and chronic kidney disease (P-value interaction: 0.894).

Conclusion: Use of SGLT-2i is associated with a reduced risk of OHCA compared with use of GLP-1a in type 2 diabetes.