Implications of CVD-REAL 2 study for Indian diabetic population

Abstract

South Asians are reported to have a higher risk of developing macrovascular complications of Diabetes, i.e., coronary artery and cerebrovascular diseases as compared to Caucasians. Literature evidence has shown that among the currently available agents, the sodium/glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) offer a rational approach for management of T2DM over other glucose lowering therapies because of their insulinindependent action, modest weight loss, mild reduction in BP and low risk of hypoglycaemia. Recently, CVDREAL 2 study was conducted across six countries (Israel, Canada, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Australia) to determine the CV benefits of various SGLT2i in >400,000 T2DM patients in a realworld scenario. Around 75% of the patients in this study were from the AsiaPacific region. Among all the available SGLT2i, most of the study population was exposed to dapagliflozin, contributing to 75% of the total exposure time. The CVDREAL 2 study favoured SGLT2i over other glucose lowering drugs for lower risk of death, HHF, MI and stroke. All these points suggest that the results of CVDREAL 2 study can be incorporated in the high CVD risk Indian population who need much more aggressive treatment for diabetes than other patient populations.