Sodium Glucose Co-Transporter 2 Inhibitors: Beyond Glucose Lowering

Diabetes is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Management of blood glucose is critical for diabetic patients since diabetes carries a risk for many diseases and disorders. Although there are several antidiabetic agents in the markets for a long time, some of the agents have dose-limiting side effects, such as hypoglycemia and weight gain which limits their ability to reduce cardiovascular complications. Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are a new class of antidiabetic agents which exerts their effects insulin-independent mechanism, therefore, they do not cause hypoglycemia in the diabetic patients. Due to the unique class-dependent mechanism, they can be adjunct to the standard therapy of the diabetic patients. Recent studies have speculated that SGLT2 inhibitors have some beneficial effects other than hypoglycemic effects in diabetic patients like lowering body weight, reducing blood pressure and hyperuricemia. This review aims to discuss the pleiotropic effects of SGLT2 inhibitors and gives an avenue for new research ideas.