Outi Varpuluoma1, Anna-Kaisa Försti1, Jari Jokelainen2, Miia Turpeinen3, Markku Timonen4, Kaisa Tasanen1, Laura Huilaja5. 1. PEDEGO Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; Department of Dermatology, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland. 2. Unit of General Practice, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; Center for Life Course Epidemiology and Systems Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. 3. Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; Administration Center, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; Research Unit of Biomedicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. 4. Center for Life Course Epidemiology and Systems Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. 5. PEDEGO Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; Department of Dermatology, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland. Electronic address: laura.huilaja@oulu.fi.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors (DPP4is) used to treat diabetes have been reported to be associated with an increased risk of bullous pemphigoid (BP). There are no previous reports analyzing the risk of BP in patients who are using other diabetes medications. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between diabetes medications other than DPP4i and development of BP. METHODS: We investigated the prevalence of diabetes among patients with BP and the association between the use of diabetes drugs (excluding DPP4i, metformin, and insulin) and BP by analyzing national Finnish registry data for 3397 patients with BP and 12,941 patients with basal cell carcinoma as controls. RESULTS: Our results show that 19.6% of patients with BP have type 2 diabetes. Use of none of the investigated medications was associated with an increased risk of BP. LIMITATIONS: Because this was a registry-based study, it was not possible to verify the accuracy of the diagnoses. The risk of BP in users of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists could not be analyzed. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that the investigated diabetes drugs are not associated with an increased risk of BP in a Finnish patient database, indicating they can be safely used in this population. Generalization of these results to other populations will require further study.
BACKGROUND:Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors (DPP4is) used to treat diabetes have been reported to be associated with an increased risk of bullous pemphigoid (BP). There are no previous reports analyzing the risk of BP in patients who are using other diabetes medications. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between diabetes medications other than DPP4i and development of BP. METHODS: We investigated the prevalence of diabetes among patients with BP and the association between the use of diabetes drugs (excluding DPP4i, metformin, and insulin) and BP by analyzing national Finnish registry data for 3397 patients with BP and 12,941 patients with basal cell carcinoma as controls. RESULTS: Our results show that 19.6% of patients with BP have type 2 diabetes. Use of none of the investigated medications was associated with an increased risk of BP. LIMITATIONS: Because this was a registry-based study, it was not possible to verify the accuracy of the diagnoses. The risk of BP in users of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists could not be analyzed. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that the investigated diabetes drugs are not associated with an increased risk of BP in a Finnish patient database, indicating they can be safely used in this population. Generalization of these results to other populations will require further study.
Authors: Karim Chouchane; Giovanni Di Zenzo; Dario Pitocco; Laura Calabrese; Clara De Simone Journal: J Transl Med Date: 2021-12-20 Impact factor: 5.531