In a three-month study of 16 women with obesity and prediabetes, empagliflozin use was associated with fewer inflammatory cell aggregates; the study did not test whether it prevents heart events.
Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center followed 16 women with obesity and prediabetes who took empagliflozin for three months. The results were published in Circulation. A comparison group of women following a low-calorie diet was also monitored.
Researchers assessed immune measures before treatment, after two weeks and after three months. Within two weeks, the women taking the drug had a marked decline in circulating monocyte-platelet aggregates — cell clusters associated with vascular inflammation. The decrease was greater after three months. The diet group did not show the same effect.
The researchers also reported that empagliflozin shifted monocytes from a pro-inflammatory state toward a more stable one. They suggest the mechanism could explain part of the known cardiovascular effects of SGLT2 inhibitors.
This was a small pilot study of biological markers; it did not show that the drug prevents heart attacks or other clinical events in this group. Vanderbilt Health also reported the findings; the study record is available in PubMed.