The use of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors in patients with type 2 diabetes and hypertension: a focus on African-American populations

Diabetes, hypertension, and severe kidney disease are all disproportionately prevalent in African-Americans. Clinical trials data from type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients have demonstrated that sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have a positive effect on cardiovascular risk factors – such as improved blood glucose control, reduced body weight, and reduced blood pressure – and also support a possible renal-protective role for SGLT2 inhibitors. The EMPA-REG OUTCOME^® trial revealed that empagliflozin was associated with reduced adverse cardiovascular and renal outcomes. Thus, SGLT2 inhibitors could potentially provide clinicians with a treatment option that addresses multiple pathophysiologic aspects of the cardiometabolic disease processes that may affect end-organ function in African-American patients with T2D and hypertension. This review examines some of the clinical issues associated with this patient group and the role that SGLT2 inhibitors may provide in their treatment.