Context: The stepwise hyperglycemic clamp procedure (SHCP) is the gold standard for measuring the renal threshold for glucose excretion (RT(G)), but its use is limited to small studies in specialized laboratories.
Objective: The objective of the study was to validate a new method for determining RT(G) using data obtained during a mixed-meal tolerance test (MMTT) in untreated and canagliflozin-treated subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Design: This was an open-label study with 2 sequential parts.
Setting: The study was performed at a single center in Germany.
Patients: Twenty-eight subjects with T2DM were studied.
Interventions: No treatment intervention was given in part 1. In part 2, subjects were treated with canagliflozin 100 mg/d for 8 days. In each part, subjects underwent an MMTT and a 5-step SHCP on consecutive days.
Main outcome measures: For both methods, RT(G) was estimated using measured blood glucose (BG) and urinary glucose excretion (UGE); estimated glomerular filtration rates were also used to determine RT(G) during the MMTT. The methods were compared using the concordance correlation coefficient and geometric mean ratios.
Results: In untreated and canagliflozin-treated subjects, the relationship between UGE rate and BG was well described by a threshold relationship. Good agreement was obtained between the MMTT-based and SHCP-derived RT(G) values. The concordance correlation coefficient (for all subjects) was 0.94; geometric mean ratios (90% confidence intervals) for RT(G) values (MMTT/SHCP) were 0.93 (0.89-0.96) in untreated subjects and 1.03 (0.78-1.37) in canagliflozin-treated subjects. Study procedures and treatments were generally well tolerated in untreated and canagliflozin-treated subjects.
Conclusions: In both untreated and canagliflozin-treated subjects with T2DM, RT(G) can be accurately estimated from measured BG, UGE, and estimated glomerular filtration rates using an MMTT-based method.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01273558.