Water Conservation Overrides Osmotic Diuresis During SGLT2 Inhibition in Patients With Heart Failure.

Background: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors are believed to improve cardiac outcomes due to their osmotic diuretic potential.
Objectives: The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that vasopressin-driven urine concentration overrides the osmotic diuretic effect of glucosuria induced by dapagliflozin treatment.
Methods: DAPA-Shuttle1 (Hepato-renal Regulation of Water Conservation in Heart Failure Patients With SGLT-2 Inhibitor Treatment) was a single-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, in which patients with chronic heart failure NYHA functional classes I/II and reduced ejection fraction were randomly assigned to receive dapagliflozin 10 mg daily or placebo (1:1) for 4 weeks. The primary endpoint was change from baseline in urine osmolyte concentration. Secondary endpoints included changes in copeptin levels and solute free water clearance.
Results: Thirty-three randomized, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor-naïve participants completed the study, 29 of whom (placebo: n = 14; dapagliflozin: n = 15) provided accurate 24-hour urine collections (mean age 59 ± 14 years; left ventricular ejection fraction 31% ± 9%). Dapagliflozin treatment led to an isolated increase in urine glucose excretion by 3.3 mmol/kg/d (95% CI: 2.51-4.04; P < 0.0001) within 48 hours (early) which persisted after 4 weeks (late; 2.7 mmol/kg/d [95% CI: 1.98-3.51]; P < 0.0001). Dapagliflozin treatment increased serum copeptin early (5.5 pmol/L [95% CI: 0.45-10.5]; P < 0.05) and late (7.8 pmol/L [95% CI: 2.77-12.81]; P < 0.01), leading to proportional reductions in free water clearance (early: -9.1 mL/kg/d [95% CI: -14 to -4.12; P < 0.001]; late: -11.0 mL/kg/d [95% CI: -15.94 to -6.07; P < 0.0001]) and elevated urine concentrations (late: 134 mmol/L [95% CI: 39.28-229.12]; P < 0.01). Therefore, urine volume did not significantly increase with dapagliflozin (mean difference early: 2.8 mL/kg/d [95% CI: -1.97 to 7.48; P = 0.25]; mean difference late: 0.9 mL/kg/d [95% CI: -3.83 to 5.62]; P = 0.70).
Conclusions: Physiological-adaptive water conservation eliminated the expected osmotic diuretic potential of dapagliflozin and thereby prevented a glucose-driven increase in urine volume of approximately 10 mL/kg/d · 75 kg = 750 mL/kg/d. (Hepato-renal Regulation of Water Conservation in Heart Failure Patients With SGLT-2 Inhibitor Treatment [DAPA-Shuttle1]; NCT04080518).
Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures The DAPA-Shuttle1 study was an investigator-initiated trial funded by AstraZeneca via the externally sponsored scientific research program (ESR-18-13712; Principal Investigator: Dr Titze). The SSIS Project was realized with grant support from Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS-KBrFA/2019/0026) to Dr Titze. No funding bodies had any role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Dr Titze has received one personal speaker fee from AstraZeneca in the past 4 years. Dr Greasley has been an employee of and shareholder in AstraZeneca. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)