Abstract
The objective of this study is to examine the effect of empagliflozin on cardiac function in rats with chronic heart failure and the possible mechanism. Forty 6-week-old male SD rats were randomly divided into the control group, empagliflozin treatment group, and sham-operated group. SD rats in the control group and empagliflozin treatment group were subjected to ligation of the anterior descending coronary artery to induce an acute myocardial infarction model. SD rats in the sham-operated group were only subjected to threading of the anterior descending branch of the coronary artery without ligation. On the second day after surgery, the control group and sham operation group were given physiological saline by gavage, while the empagliflozin treatment group was given empagliflozin (30 mg/kg/day) by gavage. Sixteen weeks later, cardiac function, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), serum brain natriuretic peptide, hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), iNOS expression levels, and myocardial morphological changes were observed. Compared with that in the control group, heart function in the empagliflozin-treated group was significantly improved, MMP was increased, intracellular ROS levels were decreased, and NT-proBNP and hs-CRP were significantly reduced, and HE staining showed that the cell oedema was less than that in the control group, tissue arrangement was more orderly, and iNOS expression was inhibited. Empagliflozin can improve cardiac function in rats with chronic heart failure, and the mechanism may involve inhibiting inflammation, reducing myocardial oxidative stress, and improving myocardial fibrosis.
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This work was supported by Shandong Province Medical and Health Technology Development Plan Project.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Zhenzhen Wang, QianLiu, Xiaofang Wang, Pengpeng Wang, Fenglei Zhang, and Zhuwen Wang. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Zhenzhen Wang and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. The authors declare that all data were generated in-house and that no paper mill was used.
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The animal experiment was carried out in strict accordance with the “Regulations on the Management of Experimental Animals” issued by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. This experiment was approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University.
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Wang, Z., Liu, Q., Wang, X. et al. Empagliflozin improves cardiac function in rats with chronic heart failure. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 397, 1037–1044 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-023-02655-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-023-02655-7