Skip to main content

Novel Cardioprotective Antidiabetic Medications

New Content ItemThe thematic series focusses on two groups of antidiabetic medications that have demonstrated cardiovascular benefits with consistently reduced major adverse cardiac events, improvement in heart failure and diminished cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Namely, these are the sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i, also called gliflozins) and the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1a, also called incretin mimetics).
Due to their cardioprotective effect, these compounds, as well as the GLP-1a "cousin" tirzepatide, represent a real breakthrough in antidiabetic therapeutics. Repurposing antidiabetic drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases is a trend that may increase in a near future allowing the inclusion of new drugs when their underlying molecular mechanisms of action will be unveiled. 

We encourage submissions of research as well as review articles. 
 

  1. Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a serious complication in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), which still lacks adequate therapy. Irisin, a cleavage peptide off fibronectin type III domain-containi...

    Authors: Yuan-juan Tang, Zhen Zhang, Tong Yan, Ken Chen, Guo-fan Xu, Shi-qiang Xiong, Dai-qian Wu, Jie Chen, Pedro A. Jose, Chun-yu Zeng and Jin-juan Fu
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2024 23:116
  2. Originally designed as anti-hyperglycemic drugs, Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1Ra) and Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have demonstrated protective cardiovascular effects, ...

    Authors: Angelica Cersosimo, Nadia Salerno, Jolanda Sabatino, Alessandra Scatteia, Giandomenico Bisaccia, Salvatore De Rosa, Santo Dellegrottaglie, Chiara Bucciarelli-Ducci, Daniele Torella and Isabella Leo
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2024 23:94
  3. Type-2 diabetes (T2D) worsens stroke recovery, amplifying post-stroke disabilities. Currently, there are no therapies targeting this important clinical problem. Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2...

    Authors: Ellen Vercalsteren, Dimitra Karampatsi, Carolina Buizza, Thomas Nyström, Thomas Klein, Gesine Paul, Cesare Patrone and Vladimer Darsalia
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2024 23:88
  4. We aimed to assess the effect of SGLT2i on arrhythmias by conducting a meta-analysis using data from randomized controlled trials(RCTs).

    Authors: Jia Liao, Ramin Ebrahimi, Zhiyu Ling, Christian Meyer, Martin Martinek, Philipp Sommer, Piotr Futyma, Davide Di Vece, Alexandra Schratter, Willem-Jan Acou, Lin Zhu, Márcio G. Kiuchi, Shaowen Liu, Yuehui Yin, Helmut Pürerfellner, Christian Templin…
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2024 23:78
  5. Patients with diabetes mellitus have poor prognosis after myocardial ischemic injury. However, the mechanism is unclear and there are no related therapies. We aimed to identify regulators of diabetic myocardia...

    Authors: Yunhui Lv, Kai Li, Shuo Wang, Xiaokang Wang, Guangxin Yue, Yangyang Zhang, Xin Lv, Ping Zhao, Shiping Wang, Qi Zhang, Qiuju Li, Jinyan Zhu, Jubo Li, Peng Peng, Yue Li, Jiafei Luo…
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2024 23:58
  6. No randomized clinical trials have directly compared the cardiorenal effectiveness of empagliflozin and GLP-1RA agents with demonstrated cardioprotective effects in patients with a broad spectrum of cardiovasc...

    Authors: Phyo T. Htoo, Helen Tesfaye, Sebastian Schneeweiss, Deborah J. Wexler, Brendan M. Everett, Robert J. Glynn, Niklas Schmedt, Lisette Koeneman, Anouk Déruaz-Luyet, Julie M. Paik and Elisabetta Patorno
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2024 23:57

    The Correction to this article has been published in Cardiovascular Diabetology 2024 23:103

  7. Metabolic effects of empagliflozin treatment include lowered glucose and insulin concentrations, elevated free fatty acids and ketone bodies and have been suggested to contribute to the cardiovascular benefits...

    Authors: Roopameera Thirumathyam, Erik Arne Richter, Gerrit van Hall, Jens Juul Holst, Mogens Fenger, Jens P. Gøtze, Ulrik Dixen, Niels Vejlstrup, Sten Madsbad, Per Lav Madsen and Nils Bruun Jørgensen
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2024 23:13
  8. Few studies explored the effect of the combination of glucose sodium-cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i) and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) on the incidence of cardiovascular events in pa...

    Authors: Raffaele Marfella, Francesco Prattichizzo, Celestino Sardu, Pier Francesco Rambaldi, Carlo Fumagalli, Ludovica Vittoria Marfella, Rosalba La Grotta, Chiara Frigé, Valeria Pellegrini, Davide D’Andrea, Arturo Cesaro, Paolo Calabrò, Carmine Pizzi, Roberto Antonicelli, Antonio Ceriello, Ciro Mauro…
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2024 23:10
  9. Numerous clinical studies have explored sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and SGLT2i were proved t...

    Authors: Jiao Chen, Chunxia Jiang, Man Guo, Yan Zeng, Zongzhe Jiang, Dongmin Zhang, Mengqin Tu, Xiaozhen Tan, Pijun Yan, XunMei Xu, Yang Long and Yong Xu
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2024 23:2
  10. Obesity has increased in recent years with consequences on diabetes and other comorbidities. Thus, 1 out of 3 diabetic patients suffers cardiovascular disease (CVD). The network among glucose, immune system, e...

    Authors: David García-Vega, David Sánchez-López, Gemma Rodríguez-Carnero, Rocío Villar-Taibo, Juan E. Viñuela, Adán Lestegás-Soto, Ana Seoane-Blanco, María Moure-González, Susana B. Bravo, Ángel L. Fernández, José R. González-Juanatey and Sonia Eiras
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2024 23:1
  11. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), which have proven cardiovascular benefits, are recommended in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Howeve...

    Authors: Xi Tan, Yuanjie Liang, Jigar R. Rajpura, Larisa Yedigarova, Josh Noone, Lin Xie, Silvio Inzucchi and Adam de Havenon
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:319
  12. Heart failure (HF), chronic kidney disease (CKD), and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are common and interrelated conditions, each with a significant burden of disease. HF and kidney disease progress through p...

    Authors: Robert J. Mentz, Stephen A. Brunton and Janani Rangaswami
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:316
  13. Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have shown promise in reducing the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the results are controversial and the underlying metabolic mechanism remains uncl...

    Authors: Jiang Li, Yuefeng Yu, Ying Sun, Bowei Yu, Xiao Tan, Bin Wang, Yingli Lu and Ningjian Wang
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:278
  14. Pharmacological post-MI treatment is routinely initiated at intensive/cardiac care units. However, solid evidence for an early start of these therapies is only available for dual platelet therapy and statins, ...

    Authors: Dirk von Lewinski, Ewald Kolesnik, Faisal Aziz, Martin Benedikt, Norbert J. Tripolt, Markus Wallner, Peter N. Pferschy, Friederike von Lewinski, Nora Schwegel, Rury R. Holman, Abderrahim Oulhaj, Deddo Moertl, Jolanta Siller-Matula and Harald Sourij
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:269
  15. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reported contrasting results about reverse left ventricular remodeling (LVR) after sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) therapy in patients with heart failure...

    Authors: Erberto Carluccio, Paolo Biagioli, Gianpaolo Reboldi, Anna Mengoni, Rosanna Lauciello, Cinzia Zuchi, Sandra D’Addario, Giuliana Bardelli and Giuseppe Ambrosio
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:235
  16. Agonism at the receptor for the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIPR) is a key component of the novel unimolecular GIPR:GLP-1R co-agonists, which are among the most promising drugs in clinical de...

    Authors: Stephan Sachs, Anna Götz, Brian Finan, Annette Feuchtinger, Richard D. DiMarchi, Yvonne Döring, Christian Weber, Matthias H. Tschöp, Timo D. Müller and Susanna M. Hofmann
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:217
  17. Cardiac steatosis is an early yet overlooked feature of diabetic cardiomyopathy. There is no available therapy to treat this condition. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are used as first or second-line therap...

    Authors: Yue Gu, Elisa Avolio, Valeria V Alvino, Anita C Thomas, Andrew Herman, Poppy J Miller, Niall Sullivan, Ashton Faulkner and Paolo Madeddu
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:214
  18. Empagliflozin reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and high cardiovascular risk via mechanisms which have not been fully explained. The mechanisms of such be...

    Authors: Elena Fortin, Magnus Lundin, Linda Mellbin, Anna Norhammar, Per Näsman, Stina Smetana, Peder Sörensson, Ele Ferrannini, Lars Rydén and Giulia Ferrannini
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:208
  19. Given the cumulative evidence on the effectiveness of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) on chronic heart failure, demand is emerging for further information on their effects in patients who a...

    Authors: Sohee Park, Han Eol Jeong, Hyesung Lee, Seng Chan You and Ju-Young Shin
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:191
  20. Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors displayed cardiovascular benefits in type 2 diabetes mellitus in previous studies; however, there were some heterogeneities regarding respective cardiovascular outcom...

    Authors: Jaehyun Lim, You-Jung Choi, Bong Sung Kim, Tae-Min Rhee, Hyun-Jung Lee, Kyung-Do Han, Jun-Bean Park, Jin Oh Na, Yong-Jin Kim, Heesun Lee and Hyung-Kwan Kim
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:188
  21. The relationship between sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is not yet explored.

    Authors: Faisal Aziz, Norbert J. Tripolt, Peter N. Pferschy, Ewald Kolesnik, Harald Mangge, Pero Curcic, Markus Hermann, Andreas Meinitzer, Dirk von Lewinski and Harald Sourij
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:184
  22. In clinical trials enrolling patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) at high cardiovascular risk, many glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) improved albuminuria status and possibly mitigated kidne...

    Authors: Meir Schechter, Cheli Melzer Cohen, Alisa Fishkin, Aliza Rozenberg, Ilan Yanuv, Dvora R. Sehtman-Shachar, Gabriel Chodick, Alice Clark, Trine J. Abrahamsen, Jack Lawson, Avraham Karasik and Ofri Mosenzon
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:126
  23. Atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) frequently coexist because of their similar pathological basis. However, whether sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i), a novel class of anti-HF medi...

    Authors: Xiaolan Ouyang, Jiafu Wang, Qian Chen, Long Peng, Suhua Li and Xixiang Tang
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:124
  24. Ischemic stroke patients with diabetes are at high risk for recurrent stroke and cardiovascular complications. Pioglitazone, a type of thiazolidinedione, has been shown to reduce cardiovascular complications i...

    Authors: Joonsang Yoo, Jimin Jeon, Minyoul Baik and Jinkwon Kim
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:106
  25. Emerging evidence supports that dihydroceramides (DhCer) and ceramides (Cer) contribute to the pathophysiology of insulin resistance and liver steatosis, and that their circulating concentrations are independe...

    Authors: Damien Denimal, Victoria Bergas, Jean-Paul Pais-de-Barros, Isabelle Simoneau, Laurent Demizieux, Patricia Passilly-Degrace, Benjamin Bouillet, Jean-Michel Petit, Alexia Rouland, Amandine Bataille, Laurence Duvillard and Bruno Vergès
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:104
  26. Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors are used in the treatment of diabetes but are also emerging as cardioprotective agents in heart diseases even in the absence of type 2 diabetes. In this paper, upon p...

    Authors: Julia Hoehlschen, Dominik Hofreither, Tamara Tomin and Ruth Birner-Gruenberger
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:101
  27. Sodium–glucose transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2-I) could modulate atherosclerotic plaque progression, via down-regulation of inflammatory burden, and lead to reduction of major adverse cardiovascular events (MA...

    Authors: Celestino Sardu, Maria Consiglia Trotta, Ferdinando Carlo Sasso, Cosimo Sacra, Gerardo Carpinella, Ciro Mauro, Fabio Minicucci, Paolo Calabrò, Michele D’ Amico, Fabrizio D’ Ascenzo, Ovidio De Filippo, Mario Iannaccone, Carmine Pizzi, Giuseppe Paolisso and Raffaele Marfella
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:80
  28. Due to their cardiovascular protective effect, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) represent breakthrough therapies for type 2 diabetes ...

    Authors: Pierre Gourdy, Patrice Darmon, François Dievart, Jean-Michel Halimi and Bruno Guerci
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:79
  29. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have shown cardiovascular benefits in cardiovascular outcome trials in type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the most convincing evidence was obtained in subj...

    Authors: Sara Piccini, Giuseppe Favacchio, Cristina Panico, Emanuela Morenghi, Franco Folli, Gherardo Mazziotti, Andrea Gerardo Lania and Marco Mirani
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:69
  30. Patients with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. Sodium-glucose transport 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have been shown to enhance cardiovascular health since their debut as a second-li...

    Authors: Pei-Chien Tsai, Wei-Jung Chuang, Albert Min-Shan Ko, Jui-Shuan Chen, Cheng-Hsun Chiu, Chun-Han Chen and Yung-Hsin Yeh
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:57
  31. No study has compared the cardiovascular outcomes for sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) head-to-head against other glucose-lowering therapies, including dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor (DDP4i...

    Authors: Jimmy Gonzalez, Benjamin A. Bates, Soko Setoguchi, Tobias Gerhard and Chintan V. Dave
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:54
  32. Basal insulin glargine has a neutral effect on cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes (T2DM). In practice, basal insulin is often paired with a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP1-RA) or meal insuli...

    Authors: Ravi Retnakaran, Jiajie Pu, Chang Ye, Alexandra Emery, Caroline K. Kramer and Bernard Zinman
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:50
  33. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) and sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i) demonstrated cardiovascular and renal protection. Whether their benefits occur also during hospitali...

    Authors: Filippo Trombara, Nicola Cosentino, Alice Bonomi, Monica Ludergnani, Paolo Poggio, Luigia Gionti, Marta Baviera, Pierluca Colacioppo, Maria Carla Roncaglioni, Olivia Leoni, Francesco Bortolan, Piergiuseppe Agostoni, Stefano Genovese and Giancarlo Marenzi
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:26
  34. Increased acid sphingomyelinase (ASMase) activity is associated with insulin resistance and cardiac dysfunction. However, the effects of ASMase on diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) and the molecular mechanism(s) u...

    Authors: Ruijiao Liu, Tengfei Duan, Li Yu, Yongzhong Tang, Shikun Liu, Chunjiang Wang and Wei-Jin Fang
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:25
  35. Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) plays an important role in cardiometabolic risk. EAT is a modifiable risk factor and could be a potential therapeutic target for drugs that already show cardiovascular benefits. Th...

    Authors: Veronika A. Myasoedova, Valentina Parisi, Donato Moschetta, Vincenza Valerio, Maddalena Conte, Ilaria Massaiu, Michele Bozzi, Fabrizio Celeste, Dario Leosco, Guido Iaccarino, Stefano Genovese and Paolo Poggio
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:23
  36. As indications for sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) are expanding, a growing number of older adults have become candidates for treatment. We studied the safety profile of SGLT2i among older ...

    Authors: Adam Goldman, Boris Fishman, Gilad Twig, Emanuel Raschi, Tali Cukierman-Yaffe, Yonatan moshkovits, Alon Pomerantz, Ilan Ben-Zvi, Rachel Dankner and Elad Maor
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2023 22:16
  37. The mechanism by which a sodium-glucose cotransporter inhibitor (SGLT2i) induces favorable effects on diabetes and cardiovascular diseases including heart failure (HF) remains poorly understood. Metabolomics i...

    Authors: Satoshi Katano, Toshiyuki Yano, Hidemichi Kouzu, Ryohei Nagaoka, Ryo Numazawa, Kotaro Yamano, Yusuke Fujisawa, Katsuhiko Ohori, Nobutaka Nagano, Takefumi Fujito, Ryo Nishikawa, Wataru Ohwada, Masaki Katayose, Tatsuya Sato, Atsushi Kuno and Masato Furuhashi
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2022 21:285
  38. Glucokinase activators (GKAs) are an emerging class of glucose lowering drugs that activate the glucose-sensing enzyme glucokinase (GK). Pending formal cardiovascular outcome trials, we applied two-sample Mend...

    Authors: Ke Wang, Mai Shi, Chuiguo Huang, Baoqi Fan, Andrea O. Y. Luk, Alice P. S. Kong, Ronald C. W. Ma, Juliana C. N. Chan and Elaine Chow
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2022 21:192
  39. Tirzepatide is the first dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor co-agonist approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in the USA, Europe, and the UAE. Tirzepatide is an acylated peptide engineered to activate the GIP and ...

    Authors: Michael A. Nauck and David A. D‘Alessio
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2022 21:169
  40. Incretin hormones are peptides released in the intestine in response to the presence of nutrients in its lumen. The main incretins are glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polyp...

    Authors: Enrique Z. Fisman and Alexander Tenenbaum
    Citation: Cardiovascular Diabetology 2021 20:225