An Exploratory Investigation of the Safety of Empagliflozin in Kidney Transplant Recipients (SEKTR)

Kidney transplantation improves the health and quality of life for those veterans with end stage kidney disease (ESKD). While early patient and graft survival are excellent, long-term outcomes continue to be challenging. Patient death with existing kidney graft function occurs in about half of all recipients over time. This is primarily due to the development of cardiovascular disease in a patient population with multiple preexisting cardiac disease risk factors. There has been little progress in improving outcomes in this area for over two decades. Recent studies in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients using SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), regardless of the presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), results in both kidney protective and cardiac protective impacts and improved patient outcomes. However, kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) were excluded from these clinical trials due to concerns that these agents promote infection, diminish graft function, and may alter immunosuppressive drug levels that are the mainstay of patient’s transplant therapy. There are limited published data of SGLT2i treatment of selected KTRs. The goal of this submission is to examine the safety and efficacy of SGLT2i therapy in veterans with KTRs and T2DM. Our hypothesis is treatment with SGLT2i will lead to improvements in graft and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with T2DM, with acceptable side effect profile. To test this hypothesis, we will execute a multicenter clinical trial at 4 VA medical centers, including 3 that serve as primary kidney transplant programs. Our multidisciplinary research team includes transplant medical and surgical expertise, diabetology, and informatics and statistical support familiar with VA data systems. In open label fashion, we will treat eligible KTRs and comprehensively assess adverse and serious adverse event data, as well as assess any untoward impacts on graft function and diabetes management. Secondly, we will utilize VA data from the VINCI corporate data warehouse to develop a control cohort of veterans with KTRs and T2DM, not treated with SGLT2i. We will utilize propensity score matching to reduce bias that may occur in observational studies. With this strategy, we will further address the potential beneficial impact of SGLT2i treatment on cardiovascular outcomes, as well as kidney disease progression in the transplanted kidney. We will also analyze the cost impact of using this agent in this patient population, in terms of hospitalizations, unanticipated procedures, and CKD management. These studies will provide new information to the transplant community for both veteran and non-veteran alike, with a detailed assessment of safety and feasibility of this agent class using a pragmatic approach to transplant care. These results will translate into an opportunity to mitigate late graft loss in this patient population, and a potential breakthrough in clinical care that to date has been unrecognized.