Empagliflozin prevents cardiomyopathy via sGC-cGMP-PKG pathway in type 2 diabetes mice
Abstract
Cardiovascular complications contribute to the major mortality and morbidity in type 2 diabetes. Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is increasingly recognized as an important cause of heart failure. EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial has reported that empagliflozin, the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor, exerts cardiovascular benefits on diabetic population. However, the mechanism by which empagliflozin alleviates DCM still remains unclear. In the current study, we investigated the cardiac protective effects of empagliflozin on spontaneous type 2 diabetic db/db mice and its potential mechanism. Eight weeks of empagliflozin treatment (10 mg/kg/day) decreased body weight and blood glucose level, and increased urinary glucose excretion (UGE) in diabetic mice. Echocardiography revealed that both systolic and diastolic functions of db/db mice were also obviously improved by empagliflozin. Furthermore, empagliflozin-treated diabetic mice presented with amelioration of cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. In addition, diabetic hearts exhibited the deterioration of oxidative stress, apoptosis and pyroptosis, while these effects were significantly counteracted after empagliflozin treatment. Moreover, empagliflozin rescued diabetes-induced suppression of sGC (soluble guanylate cyclase enzyme)-cGMP (cyclic guanosine monophosphate)-PKG (cGMP-dependent protein kinase) pathway. However, when sGC-β expression of hearts was inhibited by transvascular delivery of small interfering RNA, cardiac…
Read the paper
Related studies
- Risk Factors for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Death in a Population Cohort Study from the Western Cape Province, South Africa
- Global and regional estimates of genital human papillomavirus prevalence among men: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- A methodology for assessing deployment trauma and its consequences in OEF/OIF/OND veterans: The TRACTS longitudinal prospective cohort study
- Post‑COVID‑19 Syndrome in Outpatients: a Cohort Study
- Factors Influencing Primary and Secondary Implant Stability—A Retrospective Cohort Study with 582 Implants in 272 Patients
- Electroacupuncture for Painful Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy: A Multicenter, Randomized, Assessor-Blinded, Controlled Trial
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.