In a new study, researchers found that a newly developed drug for diabetes treatment may help treat and reverse the progression of heart failure.
The diabetes drug is called empagliflozin. It also can make the heart produce more energy and function more efficiently.
The research was conducted by a team from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
The drug empagliflozin was approved by the U.S. FDA in 2014. It can limit renal sugar resorption and can help people with type 2 diabetes live longer.
Previous research has shown that diabetes patients often have a higher risk of heart failure and patients who take empagliflozin don’t commonly develop heart failure.
In the current study, the team wanted to know if the drug contains a mechanism linked to heart failure prevention.
The researchers tested the drug on animals with no diabetes. For two months, they treated half of the animals with empagliflozin and the other group with a placebo.
They found that at two months, all animals in the group treated with empagliflozin had improved heart function.
They showed lower levels of biomarkers of heart failure. Their left ventricles had stronger contractions, got smaller, and were less thick. The heart had a normal shape.
In addition, these animals had less water accumulation in the lungs, which means they had less pulmonary congestion that could cause shortness of breath.
The researchers also found that the drug could treat heart failure by improving cardiac metabolism.
The hearts on the drug consumed more fatty acids and ketone bodies and less glucose. This means the hearts could produce more energy.
In heart failure patients, the hearts usually consume more glucose and almost no fatty acids and produces less energy.
The researchers believe that this boost in metabolism helped the hearts produce more energy and function more strongly and efficiently.
The team suggests this drug may be a promising treatment for heart failure in both non-diabetic and diabetic patients.
Their future work will test the drug on human patients.
The lead author of the study is Juan Badimon, MD, Professor of Cardiology.
The study is published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology.
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