Prospective Evaluation of Dapagliflozin as an Adjunct to Insulin Therapy in Diabetic Dogs: Preliminary Results

Abstract:

Background: Dapagliflozin, a SGLT2 inhibitor widely used in human diabetology, remains poorly studied in canine diabetes mellitus. Hypothesis/

Objectives: To assess the impact of adding compounded liquid oral dapagliflozin (CLODapa) to insulin therapy in diabetic dogs. Animals: Five spayed female and one neutered male diabetic dogs on insulin therapy.

Methods: Non-controlled clinical trial. Dogs were evaluated at baseline (T0), and at 10 (T10) and 40 (T40) days after CLODapa initiation (0.088 ± 0.013 mg/kg/q24h). Clinical parameters, diabetes clinical score (DCS), systolic blood pressure (SBP), hematologic and serum biochemistry variables, and urinalysis results were evaluated at each time point. Interstitial glucose (IG) and glycemic variability (GV%) were monitored (FreeStyle Libre 2) for at least 4 days before CLODapa initiation and throughout the first 10 days of treatment. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used for comparisons across time points, and paired t-tests were applied for pre- versus post-CLODapa comparisons of IG and GV%.

Results: Cholesterol (P = 0.01) and fructosamine (P = 0.03) concentrations decreased at T10 and T40, as did mean IG (329.3 ± 35 mg/dL) compared with post-CLODapa values (204.6 ± 57 mg/dL, p = 0.0006). GV% (25.7 ± 5.1%) significantly increased post-CLODapa (43.2 ± 6.7%, P = 0.0003). SBP decreased significantly (P = 0.01) at T10 and remained lower at T40. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in body weight, DCS, daily insulin requirement, triglycerides, β-hydroxybutyrate, and other variables studied. Clinical hypoglycemia was not documented in any dog. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: CLODapa improved mean IG concentrations and SBP in diabetic dogs under insulin therapy.