Why carry out this study?

Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors increase both urinary glucose excretion and urine volume in both healthy nondiabetic and diabetic subjects.

Urinary glucose depletion, osmotic diuresis, polyuria/pollakiuria and volume depletion may cause genital infections and skin disorders, which are more frequent with SGLT2 inhibitor treatment than with placebo.

We examined whether the diuretic effect of a SGLT2 inhibitor would modify the skin hydration status in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), similar to dry skin in patients treated with diuretics.

What was learned from the study?

Fourteen days of ipragliflozin treatment did not significantly affect primary endpoints of the skin hydration status, which were measured on three standard types of devices (Corneometer®, Skicon® and Tewameter®) in patients with well-controlled T2DM.

The results suggest that the observed small change in skin water content due to exposure to SGLT2 inhibitors might be compensated for during a short-term treatment in patients with well-controlled T2DM.