Can SGLT2 inhibitors reduce the risk of dementia?
Investigators examined whether patients with psychiatric disorders who receive sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors may have a lower risk of incident dementia.
In a study published in JAMA Network Open, the investigators used data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system to assess neuropsychiatric outcomes among more than 100,000 patients aged 65 years and older with mood and psychotic disorders — including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia spectrum disorder — who either initiated or did not initiate SGLT2 inhibitors, which are used to treat Type 2 diabetes.
The investigators found that the participants who initiated SGLT2 inhibitors had a lower risk of all-cause dementia and fewer psychiatric emergency department visits compared with those who did not initiate SGLT2 inhibitors. While there were no statistically significant differences in psychiatric hospitalizations between the two groups in the intention-to-treat analysis, there were fewer hospitalizations among those in the SGLT2 inhibitor group in the per-protocol analysis. However, this analysis demonstrated no benefit in psychiatric emergency department visits with SGLT2 inhibitor use.
As a result of the findings, the investigators suggested that SGLT2 inhibitors could provide protective neuropsychiatric benefits in this patient population. Further research may be needed to better understand the potential shared metabolic pathway between psychiatric disorders and dementia.
Read more: JAMA Network Open
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