Poor glycemic control is type 1 diabetes mellitus patients a common issue. There is an increasing interest for addition of SGLT2 inhibitors to standard insulin treatment in these patients. This study was aimed at exploring the effects of empagliflozin on time in range parameters in overweight type 1 diabetes mellitus patients with poorly controlled glycaemia.
Ten type 1 diabetes mellitus patients (aged 45.5 ± 1.5 years; duration of diabetes 21.0 ± 3.6 years) received empagliflozin 25 mg daily in addition to standard insulin pump therapy. The continuous glucose monitoring data were analyzed at inclusion and after 12 weeks of treatment with empagliflozin. Several several parameters were determined: time above range (TAR; % of readings >10.1 mmol/L), time below range (TBR; % of readings <3.8 mmol/L) and time in range (TIR; % of reading 3.9-10.0 mmol/L). Paired sample t-test was used for statistical analysis.
The addition of empagliflozin to standard insulin treatment significantly increased the TIR, for up to 1.6-fold, and significantly decreased TAR, for up to 1.2-fold, compared to initial values (both P<0.01). TBR remained unchanged during the study course. HbA1c decreased during treatment with empagliflozin from 7.9 ± 0.2% to 7.1 ± 0.1%. Additionally, a lower glycemic variability was observed.
The addition of empagliflozin to the standard insulin treatment improved glycemic control according to HbA1c and increased time in range in overweight type 1 diabetes mellitus with poorly controlled glycemia. These results emphasize the promising role of SGLT2 inhibitors in type 1 diabetes mellitus patients.