Impact of primary kidney disease on the effects of empagliflozin in patients with chronic kidney disease: secondary analyses of the EMPA-KIDNEY trial

Background The EMPA-KIDNEY trial showed that empagliflozin reduced the risk of the primary composite outcome of kidney disease progression or cardiovascular death in patients with chronic kidney disease mainly through slowing progression. We aimed to assess how effects of empagliflozin might differ by primary kidney disease across its broad population. Methods EMPA-KIDNEY, a randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial, was conducted at 241 centres in eight countries (Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the UK, and the USA). Patients were eligible if their estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was 20 to less than 45 mL/min per 1·73 m2, or 45 to less than 90 mL/min per 1·73 m2 with a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) of 200 mg/g or higher at screening. They were randomly assigned (1:1) to 10 mg oral empagliflozin once daily or matching placebo. Effects on kidney disease progression (defined as a sustained ≥40% eGFR decline from randomisation, end-stage kidney disease, a sustained eGFR below 10 mL/min per 1·73 m2, or death from kidney failure) were assessed using prespecified Cox models, and eGFR slope analyses used shared parameter models. Subgroup comparisons were performed by including relevant interaction terms in models. EMPA-KIDNEY is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03594110. Findings Between May 15, 2019, and April 16, 2021, 6609 participants were randomly assigned and followed up for a median of 2·0 years (IQR 1·5–2·4). Prespecified subgroupings by primary kidney disease included 2057 (31·1%) participants with diabetic kidney disease, 1669 (25·3%) with glomerular disease, 1445 (21·9%) with hypertensive or renovascular disease, and 1438 (21·8%) with other or unknown causes. Kidney disease progression occurred in 384 (11·6%) of 3304 patients in the empagliflozin group and 504 (15·2%) of 3305 patients in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·71 [95% CI 0·62–0·81]), with no evidence that the relative effect size varied significantly by primary kidney disease (pheterogeneity=0·62). The between-group difference in chronic eGFR slopes (ie, from 2 months to final follow-up) was 1·37 mL/min per 1·73 m2 per year (95% CI 1·16–1·59), representing a 50% (42–58) reduction in the rate of chronic eGFR decline. This relative effect of empagliflozin on chronic eGFR slope was similar in analyses by different primary kidney diseases, including in explorations by type of glomerular disease and diabetes (p values for heterogeneity all >0·1). Interpretation In a broad range of patients with chronic kidney disease at risk of progression, including a wide range of non-diabetic causes of chronic kidney disease, empagliflozin reduced risk of kidney disease progression. Relative effect sizes were broadly similar irrespective of the cause of primary kidney disease, suggesting that SGLT2 inhibitors should be part of a standard of care to minimise risk of kidney failure in chronic kidney disease. Funding Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, and UK Medical Research Council

The effectiveness of Tocotrienol rich fraction and αlpha Tocoferol with combination of vitamin C in the management of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS)

The pathophysiology of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) had been described to involve various strong oxidative reactions affecting the status and progress of the patients. Antioxidant therapy had been suggested in many studies involving SIRS management. The objective of this study was to compare the role of vitamin E Tocotrienol and vitamin E Tocopherol combined with vitamin C as antioxidant therapy in the management of critically ill patients diagnosed with SIRS, admitted to the intensive care unit and high dependency wards of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). It was a single blind randomized clinical trial with a total of 72 patients in which 44.4% Malays, 34.7% Chinese, 19.4% Indians and 1.4% others with 59.7% males and 40.3% females were recruited. Patients in TRI E group received Tocotrienol with Vitamin C while TOCO group received Tocopherol with Vitamin C and a control group did not receive any antioxidant. The clinical parameters (heart rate, respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure) showed improvements with significant difference at the end of study (post-intervention) as compared to admission (pre-intervention).Whereas, the sepsis (temperature, PCT, CRP and WBC) and oxidative stress (8-OHdG/Creatinine) parameters showed improvements with significant difference at the end of study (post-intervention) as compared to admission (pre-intervention). The TRI E group showed obvious improvement in clinical, sepsis and oxidative stress parameters, as compared to TOCO and control groups. This study showed that Vitamin E Tocotrienol and Vitamin E Tocopherol in combination with Vitamin C demonstrated significant improvement in the clinical and laboratory parameters during the management of SIRS. Therefore, Vitamin E in combination with Vitamin C had therapeutic benefits in the treatment of critically ill patients with SIRS