Adults with type 2 diabetes newly prescribed a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor have
a lower incidence of gout than those prescribed a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, according to a study published online Jan. 14 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Michael Fralick, M.D., Ph.D., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues compared the rate of gout between adults prescribed an SGLT2 inhibitor and those prescribed a GLP1 receptor agonist in a population-based new-user cohort study; data were included for 295,907 adults. Patients with type 2 diabetes newly prescribed an SGLT2 inhibitor were propensity score-matched to those newly prescribed a GLP1 agonist.

The researchers found that the incidence of gout was lower among patients prescribed an SGLT2 inhibitor versus those prescribed a GLP1 agonist (4.9 versus 7.8 events per 1,000 person-years), with a hazard ratio of 0.64 and a rate difference of −2.9 per 1,000 person-years.

“Future studies are necessary to confirm our findings, and if replicated, SGLT2 inhibitors might be an effective class of medication for the prevention of gout for patients with diabetes or metabolic disorders,” the authors write.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.