Recurrent flares are the hallmark of clinical manifestation of gout. According to new data published in ‘Jama Open Network’, compared to people who initially began using other types of glucose-lowering medications, sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors appear to lower the risk of recurrent gout flares in people with gout and type 2 diabetes and to reduce excess mortality in those people. The prime focus of the research was to examine the association of SGLT2i vs. active comparators (i.e., glucagonlike peptide-1 receptor agonists [GLP-1 RA] or dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors [DPP-4i]) with the risk of recurrent gout flares and all-cause mortality among patients with gout and type 2 diabetes.

      This population-based retrospective cohort study was performed using the data from a UK primary care database. Participants included patients with gout and type 2 diabetes with visits to their general practitioners. Of a total of 5931 patients included in the analysis (mean [SD] age, 66.0 [11.6] years; 4604 [77.6%] men), 1548 initiated SGLT2i treatment and 4383 initiated treatments with active comparators during the study period. The primary outcome was the number of recurrent gout flares confirmed using recorded codes and prescription records. Secondary outcomes were the first recurrent gout flare and all-cause mortality. The association of SGLT2i compared with active comparators for the risk of recurrent flares, the first recurrent flare, and all-cause mortality was assessed using Poisson regression or the Cox proportional hazards model with propensity score overlap weighting.

      The results of this cohort study suggest that SGLT2 inhibitors may offer potential benefits in reducing the risk of recurrent gout flares and mortality compared to active comparators in individuals with gout and type 2 diabetes. . It also reinforces the fact that even though it is not a dramatic urate-lowering drug, its use in therapies is clinically meaningful, which the findings from the study reinforce.