Marked Hypertriglyceridemia In A Patient With Type 2 Diabetes Receiving Sglt2 Inhibitors

A 43-year-old male with type 2 diabetes, under treatment with 5 mg/day of dapagliflozin, was referred to our hospital with upper left abdominal pain and marked hypertriglyceridemia (triglycerides [TGs], 5,960 mg/dl). He was also on a low-carbohydrate diet that promoted ketosis under sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor administration. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed a remarkable increase in very-low-density lipoprotein, a TG-rich lipoprotein particle synthesized in the liver using free fatty acids derived from adipose tissue. Although SGLT2 inhibitors generally improve the lipid profile, under certain conditions such as a low-carbohydrate diet, they may adversely exacerbate the lipid profile via ketosis.