Research shows that two kinds of type 2 diabetes drugs have not been studied in enough in the Black population to truly know if the medications have cardiovascular and renal benefits in this minority group, according to a new report.
The drugs — sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2s) and glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs) — are two newer treatments that can lower blood sugar in people who have type 2 diabetes.
Both drugs have beneficial effects on blood pressure, renal function and weight control in white and Asian people. The medicines can reduce the risk for severe heart issues and kidney disease in those populations as well, according to the report in Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
But evidence of those benefits in the Black population is lacking, the report showed.
“Given the well-documented evidence that Black and other ethnic minority populations are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes and at a younger age, the consistent lack of benefits we observed among Black populations is concerning,” said Samuel Seidu, a professor in primary care diabetes and cardio-metabolic medicine at the University of Leicester.
“Minimizing racial and ethnic variations in the cardiovascular and renal complications of type 2 diabetes requires targeted improved access to care and treatment for those most at risk,” Seidu added.
The researchers looked at 14 randomized controlled trials on SGLT2-I and GLP1-RA medicines. The studies looked at renal and cardiovascular outcomes.
The percentage of white people in the trials ranged from 66.6% to 93.2%. The percentage of Asian people in trials was between 1.2% and 21.6%, and the percentage Black people in the studies was between 2.4% and 8.3%.
Black people were underrepresented in all of the trials researchers examined, Seidu said.
“Whether the differences are due to issues with under-representation of Black populations and low statistical power, or to racial/ethnic variations in the way the body and these drugs interact with each other needs further investigation,” Seidu noted. “It is therefore important that prescribers don’t hasten to deny these newer treatments to Black populations on the back of this research.”
