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Dual Inhibition of the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System and Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2: Mechanistic and Clinical Evidence for Cardiorenal Protection

Aazar RFM, Arzouni R, Nicolaou PA

Biomedicines, 2026

4 citations

Abstract

Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) promotes haemodynamic overload, inflammation, and fibrosis in the heart and kidneys. Recently, sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have emerged as a cornerstone therapy in cardiorenal protection. Emerging data indicate that adding SGLT2 inhibitors to angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, or angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors confers additional cardiorenal protection, yet their mechanistic basis and optimal clinical use in cardiovascular (CV) disease remain unclear. This review will integrate pre-clinical and clinical evidence on dual RAAS/SGLT2 modulation in CV disease, providing mechanistic insight into dual therapy. The review will finally outline priorities for future translational and outcome studies. Clinically, adding SGLT2 inhibitors to RAAS-based therapy reduces heart failure hospitalizations and slows kidney disease progression without new safety liabilities in type 2 diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease. Mechanistically, SGLT2 inhibition restores tubuloglomerular feedback and constricts the afferent arteriole; RAAS blockade dilates the efferent arteriole, and together, they lower intraglomerular pressure. Both classes also reduce oxidative stress, inflammatory signalling, and pro-fibrotic pathways, with SGLT2 inhibitors in several settings shifting RAAS balance toward the protective…

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