Evidence Hub

Sodium–glucose co-transporter 2 inhibition with empagliflozin improves cardiac function in rats after cardiac arrest

Yunke Tan, Kai Yu, Lian Liang, Yuanshan Liu, Fengqing Song, Qiulin Ge, Xiangshao Fang, Tao Yu et al.

Research Square, 2021

Abstract

Abstract Background: Sodium–glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibition reduces hyperglycaemia and has beneficial effects in heart failure. However, the effect of SGLT2 inhibition with empagliflozin on acute myocardial dysfunction after cardiac arrest (CA) remains unknown.Methods: Non-diabetic male Sprague–Dawley rats underwent ventricular fibrillation to induce CA, or sham surgery. Rats received 10 mg/kg of empagliflozin or vehicle at 10 minutes after return of spontaneous circulation by intraperitoneal injection. Cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography, histological analysis, molecular markers of myocardial injury, oxidative stress, mitochondrial ultrastructural integrity and metabolism. Results: Empagliflozin did not influence heart rate and blood pressure, but left ventricular function and survival time were significantly higher in the empagliflozin treated group compared to the group treated with vehicle. Empagliflozin also reduced myocardial contraction band necrosis, myocardial fibrosis, serum cardiac troponin I levels and myocardial oxidative stress after CA. Moreover, empagliflozin maintained the structural integrity of myocardial mitochondria and increased mitochondrial activity after CA. In addition, empagliflozin increased circulating and myocardial ketone levels as well as myocardial expression of the 𝛽-hydroxy butyrate dehydrogenase 1. Together these metabolic changes were associated with an increase in cardiac ATP production.Conclusions:…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a preprint, done in animal, not in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

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.

Open this study Sign up free