Empagliflozin Treatment in Kidney Transplant Recipients

Background: 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.

Objective: The goal of this submission is to examine the safety and efficacy of SGLT2i therapy in Veterans with KTRs with and without T2DM. The hypothesis is treatment with SGLT2i will lead to improvements in graft and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease, with acceptable side effect profile.

Methods: To test this hypothesis, the investigators will execute a multicenter clinical trial at 5 VA medical centers, including 4 that serve as primary kidney transplant programs. The multidisciplinary research team includes transplant medical and surgical expertise, diabetology, and informatics and statistical support familiar with VA data systems. In open label fashion, the investigators 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, the investigators will utilize VA data from the VINCI corporate data warehouse to develop a control cohort of Veterans with KTRs with and without T2DM, not treated with SGLT2i. The investigators will utilize propensity score matching to reduce bias that may occur in observational studies. With this strategy, the investigators will further address the potential beneficial impact of SGLT2i treatment on cardiovascular outcomes, as well as kidney disease progression in the transplanted kidney. The investigators will also analyze the cost impact of using this agent in this patient population, in terms of hospitalizations, unanticipated procedures, and CKD management.

Findings: 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.

Inclusion criteria

• Adult (>18 years of age) male and female recipients (all races and ethnicities)
• Subject must be able to understand and provide consent
• Recipient of a primary or secondary kidney transplant at least 3 months or longer since transplant
• For subjects with T2DM or post-transplant diabetes (PTDM), measured kidney function by CKD epi eGFR must be 30mL/min/1.73m2 to 59 mL/min/1.73m2 or CKD epi eGFR 60 mL/min/1.73m2 with urinary albumin:creatinine ratio 30 mg/g (or protein:creatinine 100 mg/g).
• For subjects without T2DM or PTDM: measured kidney function by CKD epi eGFR must be 20mL/min/1.73m2 to 59mL/min/1.73m2 or CKD epi eGFR 60 mL/min/1.73m2 with urinary albumin:creatinine ratio 30 mg/g (or protein:creatinine 100 mg/g).

Exclusion criteria

• Inability or unwillingness of a participant to give written informed consent or comply with study protocol
• History of prior pancreas transplant
• CKD epi eGFR < 30 mL/min/1.73m2 for those with T2DM or < 20 mL/min/1.73m2 for those without T2DM or anyone with 5mL/min/1.73m2 fall in eGFR per year
• Uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus with most recent A1C>12%
• History of >2 urinary tract infections per year or UTIs requiring admission in the last year, or urosepsis in the last year.
• Use of SGLT2i within 90 days
• Documented allergy to SGLT2i
• History of Type I diabetes mellitus
• History of diabetic ketoacidosis
• Indwelling foley catheter or urinary diversion
• Acute rejection in the prior 3 months
• Acute MACE event within 3 months of the study
• Severe congestive heart failure (NYHA functional class III or higher)
• Active mucocutaneous mycotic infection of the groin or external genitalia.
• History of amputation due to peripheral vascular disease and/or diabetic foot ulcers within prior year
• History of malignancy except non-melanoma skin cancer within 2 years of screening
• Known of active current viral, fungal, mycobacterial, or other infections (including, but not limited to tuberculosis and atypical mycobacterial disease)
• HIV infected subjects, including those who are well controlled on anti-retrovirals
• Recent (within 6 months) Positive Hep B PCR or active disease
• Hepatitis C virus antibody positive (HCVAb+) subjects who have failed to demonstrate sustained viral remission for more than 12 weeks (after anti-viral treatment)
• Active pregnancy in a female transplant recipient
• A condition, in the eyes of the investigator, that precludes inclusion into the study.