Journal Article

Dapagliflozin, inflammation and left ventricular remodelling in patients with type 2 diabetes and left ventricular hypertrophy

Mordi, Ify R, Lang, Chim C, McCrimmon, Rory J, Brown, Alexander JM, Dihoum, Adel

2024

Overview

Background and Aims Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have beneficial effects in heart failure (HF), including reverse remodelling, but the mechanisms by which these benefits are conferred are unclear. Inflammation is implicated in the pathophysiology of heart failure (HF) and there are some pre-clinical data suggesting that SGLT2 inhibitors may reduce inflammation. There is however a lack of clinical data. The aim of our study was to investigate whether improvements in cardiac remodelling caused by dapagliflozin in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) were associated with its effects on inflammation. Methods We measured C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and interleukin 10 (IL-10) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in plasma samples of 60 patients with T2D and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) but without symptomatic HF from the DAPA-LVH trial in which participants were randomised dapagliflozin 10 mg daily or placebo for 12 months and underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) at baseline and end of treatment. The primary analysis was to investigate the effect of dapagliflozin on inflammation and to assess the relationships between changes in inflammatory markers and LV mass and global longitudinal strain (GLS) and whether the effect of dapagliflozin on LV mass and GLS was modulated by baseline levels of inflammation. Results Following 12 months of treatment dapagliflozin significantly reduced CRP compared to placebo (mean difference of -1.96; 95% CI -3.68 to -0.24, p  = 0.026). There were no significant statistical changes in other inflammatory markers. There were modest correlations between improvements in GLS and reduced inflammation (NLR ( r  = 0.311), IL-1β ( r  = 0.246), TNF-α ( r  = 0.230)) at 12 months. Conclusions Dapagliflozin caused a significant reduction in CRP compared to placebo. There were correlations between reductions in inflammatory markers including IL-1β and improvements in global longitudinal strain (but not reduced LV mass). Reductions in systemic inflammation might play a contributory role in the cardiovascular benefits of dapagliflozin. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02956811 (06/11/2016).

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Aged / Angiology / Anti-Inflammatory Agents - therapeutic use / Antidiabetics / Benzhydryl Compounds - therapeutic use / Biomarkers - blood / Blood Transfusion Medicine / C-reactive protein / Cardiac Surgery / Cardiology / Comorbidity / Congestive heart failure / Control / Cytokines / Cytokines - blood / Dapagliflozin / Development and progression / Diabetes / Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent) / Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - blood / Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - complications / Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - diagnosis / Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - drug therapy / Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - physiopathology / Dosage and administration / Double-Blind Method / Drug therapy / Female / Global longitudinal strain / Glucose transporter / Glucosides - therapeutic use / Health aspects / Heart enlargement / Heart failure / Humans / Hypertension / Hypertrophy / Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular - diagnostic imaging / Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular - drug therapy / Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular - etiology / Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular - physiopathology / IL-1β / Inflammation / Inflammation - blood / Inflammation - diagnosis / Inflammation - drug therapy / Inflammation - physiopathology / Inflammation Mediators - blood / Interleukin 10 / Interleukin 6 / Internal Medicine / Left ventricle hypertrophy / Leukocytes (neutrophilic) / Lymphocytes / Magnetic resonance imaging / Male / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Middle Aged / Patients / Physiological aspects / Placebos / Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors / Sodium-Glucose Transporter 2 Inhibitors - therapeutic use / Statistical analysis / Time Factors / Treatment Outcome / Tumor necrosis factor-α / Type 2 diabetes / Ventricle / Ventricular Function, Left - drug effects / Ventricular Remodeling - drug effects