Key clinical point: The rate of development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was lower in patients with diabetes who used vs did not use sulfonylureas or biguanides, with biguanides appearing to have a more rapid and sulfonylureas having a longer effect in lowering RA incidence.
Major finding: Among patients with diabetes, sulfonylureas or biguanides users vs nonusers were at a reduced risk of developing RA (adjusted hazard ratio 0.73; 95% CI 0.60-0.90), with the risk being lower in those prescribed biguanides for >180 days within 1 year (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.72; 95% CI 0.53-0.99) and those prescribed sulfonylureas for >365 days within 3 years (aOR 0.62; 95% CI 0.46-0.84) of the first RA visit.
Study details: Findings are from a cohort study including 94,141 patients with diabetes, of which 494 patients developed RA and were age- and sex-matched with 988 patients who did not develop RA.
Disclosures: This study was supported by Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taiwan, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, and others. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Su YJ et al. Sulfonylureas or biguanides is associated with a lower risk of rheumatoid arthritis in patients with diabetes: A nationwide cohort study. Front Med (Lausanne). 2022;9:934184 (Jul 27). Doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.934184