Kidney and heart failure events are bidirectionally associated in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

AimsThis study aimed to evaluate the bidirectional relationship between kidney and cardiovascular (CV) events in trial participants with type 2 diabetes and CV disease.Methods and resultsPost hoc analyses of EMPA-REG OUTCOME using Cox regression models were performed to assess the association of baseline factors with risk of a kidney event and bidirectional associations of incident kidney events and CV events. Among placebo-treated participants, baseline factors significantly associated with greater kidney event risk included lower baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate, albuminuria, higher uric acid, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and prior heart failure (HF). Coronary artery disease was not associated with increased risk. In placebo-treated participants, occurrence of an incident non-fatal kidney event increased the subsequent risk of hospitalization for HF (HHF) but not 3-point major adverse CV events (non-fatal stroke, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and CV death). Vice versa, HHF (but not myocardial infarction/stroke) increased the risk of subsequent kidney events. These associations were generally also seen in empagliflozin-treated participants and in the overall population. Interestingly, the risk of kidney events following HHF was not significantly increased in the relatively small number of placebo-treated participants already diagnosed with HF at baseline.ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate a bidirectional inter-relationship between HHF and kidney events. Further exploration of this relationship and strategies to optimize the use of therapies to reduce both kidney and HF outcomes is warranted.