Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Recent studies suggest that the use of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors (DPP-4i) may be associated with an increased risk of developing bullous pemphigoid; which has led to publication of several pharmacovigilance alerts.

Objectives: To characterize the potential association between the use of DPP-4i and the risk of developing bullous pemphigoid.

Material & methods: Observational, retrospective study based on clinical practice. Patients diagnosed with bullous pemphigoid with histological confirmation in our center were collected, from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018.

Results: Seventeen patients diagnosed with bullous pemphigoid were included, 52.9% males, with a mean age of 80.1±8.7 years. 52.9% had diabetes mellitus type 2, 76.5% hypertension and 47.1% dyslipidemia. In their usual treatment, 26.5% had an ACEI, 47.1% an ARB-II, 41.2% a statin and 35.3% an oral anticoagulant. Among those patients with diabetes mellitus, 66.7% were on treatment with metformin, 55.6% with a DPP-4i and 66.7% with basal insulin. Regarding the DPP-4i used, in 2 cases it was vildaglitpine, in 2 other cases linagliptin and in 1 case alogliptin. The average time of use was 929.9 days. There were no significant differences in terms of demographic variables, comorbidity or treatment groups among patients with bullous pemphigoid with and without treatment with DPP-4i.

Conclusions: 1. The appearance of bullous pemphigoid is frequently associated with the use of DPP4i in our environment. 2. Due to the frequency of use of these drugs, more studies are needed to confirm this association and rule out the possible relationship with other drugs of frequent use in the elderly patient.