Journal Club Empagliflozin, Cardiovascular Outcomes, And...

JOURNAL CLUB: Empagliflozin, Cardiovascular Outcomes, and Mortality in Type 2 Diabetes: EMPAG-REG OUTCOME Danny R. Pate 5/17/16 GENERAL STUDY OVERVIEW Title/Citation Empagliflozin, Cardiovascular Outcomes, and Mortality in Type 2 Diabetes. N Engl J Med 2015;373:2117-28. Journal Reputability High level of Reliability Funding †¢ Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) and Eli Lilly, manufacturers of empagliflozin (Jardiance) and empagliflozin/metformin (Synjardy)were the primary sources of funding for the study †¢ BI paid for medical writing and analyzed the study data, and the study s steering committee included employees of BI †¢ All researchers were paid by either BI or Eli Lilly for either consulting or data monitoring BACKGROUND- THE STUDY QUESTIONS Introduction †¢ Type 2 diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. †¢ There is growing concern that intense glucose lowering or the use of certain agents may be associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. †¢ Empagliflozin was compared with placebo and analyzed for effects on morbidity and mortality in patients with T2D at high risk for CV events who were receiving standard of care. Why this study? Empagliflozin has been shown to result in weight loss, reduce blood pressure without increasing heart rate, favorable effects on markers of arterial stiffness and vascular resistance and visceral adiposity. Empagliflozin has also been associated with an increase in both LDL and HDL cholesterol. These surrogate markers