The Study
Empagliflozin suppresses the differentiation/maturation of human epicardial preadipocytes and improves paracrine secretome profile
Scientists tested a medicine on fat cells in a petri dish and saw that the cells changed how they acted. But this doesn't mean the medicine does the same thing in people's bodies — it's just a first step in the lab.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
This study tested if a diabetes drug called empagliflozin can stop fat cells around the heart from maturing and making harmful signals.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 532 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1This suggests the drug may help the heart by making the surrounding fat less inflamed and more protective, even without weight loss.
- 2The drug reduced fat storage in heart fat cells, lowered levels of two inflammatory proteins (IL6 and MCP1), and made nearby heart cells less stressed.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
European Heart Journal
Year
2023
Authors
H. Kondo, M. Takano, S. Miyamoto, N. Takahashi
Related Content
Claims (5)
SGLT2 inhibitor medications lower the amount of fat surrounding the heart without requiring weight loss.
When human fat cells around the heart are treated with empagliflozin, they lower oxidative stress in nearby heart muscle cells grown in the same lab culture.
Empagliflozin reduces the accumulation of fat droplets and lowers levels of the protein FABP4 in human heart-derived fat precursor cells as they develop into mature fat cells, demonstrating direct suppression of fat cell maturation in laboratory conditions.
Empagliflozin decreases the release of inflammatory signaling molecules IL-6 and MCP-1 from fat cells surrounding the heart in laboratory experiments.
In human heart fat precursor cells, the SGLT2 protein is present at high levels, and its amount reduces when these cells mature into fat cells.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.