Abstract
CONTEXT Inhibitors of sodium-glucose cotransporters-2 have cardio- and renoprotective properties. However, the underlying mechanisms remain indeterminate. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of dapagliflozin on renal metabolism assessed by urine metabolome analysis in patients with type 2 diabetes. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Outpatient diabetes clinic of a tertiary academic center. PATIENTS Eighty patients with hemoglobin A1c > 7% on metformin monotherapy were prospectively enrolled. INTERVENTION Fifty patients were treated with dapagliflozin for 3 months. To exclude that the changes observed in urine metabolome were merely the result of the improvement in glycemia, 30 patients treated with insulin degludec were used for comparison. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Changes in urine metabolic profile before and after the administration of dapagliflozin and insulin degludec were assessed by proton-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. RESULTS In multivariate analysis urine metabolome was significantly altered by dapagliflozin (R2X = 0.819, R2Y = 0.627, Q2Y = 0.362, and coefficient of variation analysis of variance, P < 0.001) but not insulin. After dapagliflozin, the urine concentrations of ketone bodies, lactate, branched chain amino acids (P < 0.001), betaine, myo-inositol (P < 0001), and N-methylhydantoin (P < 0.005) were significantly increased. Additionally, the urine levels of alanine, creatine, sarcosine, and citrate were also increased (P < 0001, P <0.0001, and P <0.0005, respectively) whereas anserine decreased (P < 0005). CONCLUSIONS Dapagliflozin significantly affects urine metabolome in patients with type 2 diabetes in a glucose lowering-independent way. Most of the observed changes can be considered beneficial and may contribute to the renoprotective properties of dapagliflozin.
