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For the first time in a human trial, a class of drugs known as sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, already known for their weight-loss and glucose-lowering benefits, has also been shown to reduce inflammatory cells in the blood known to cause cardiovascular disease. The findings were published in Circulation.

"There had been some suggestive studies in animals with these medications indicating they might be modulating the immune system—affecting inflammation—but that hadn't really been shown in humans," said Mona Mashayekhi, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism at Vanderbilt Health.

"This study provides the first direct evidence of SGLT2 inhibitors altering human immune cells, which may reduce cardiovascular risk.

"This finding is significant because it's the first time this medication has been shown to have an immune effect at the cellular level with some specificity. If we understand how these medicines are reducing obesity-associated inflammation, heart disease and kidney disease, then we can identify the best patient for this treatment or discover other drug targets in that pathway that could really be beneficial."

The research team enrolled 16 women with obesity and prediabetes and treated them with the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin . They performed baseline testing, then gave study participants the medication for a total of three months. They also reviewed immune changes in a comparator cohort of women who went on a low-calorie diet for three months.

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