The Neuronal and Non-Neuronal Pathways of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitor on Body Weight-Loss and Insulin Resistance

Artificial intelligence in central-peripheral interaction organ crosstalk: the future of drug discovery and clinical trials

Drug discovery before the 20th century often focused on single genes, molecules, cells, or organs, failing to capture the complexity of biological systems. The emergence of protein-protein interaction network studies in 2001 marked a turning point and promoted a holistic approach that considers the human body as an interconnected system. This is particularly evident in the study of bidirectional interactions between the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral organs, which are critical for understanding health and disease. Understanding these complex interactions requires integrating multi-scale, heterogeneous data from molecular to organ levels, encompassing both omics (e.g., genomics, proteomics, microbiomics) and non-omics data (e.g., imaging, clinical phenotypes). Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly multi-modal models, has demonstrated significant potential in analyzing CNS-peripheral organ interactions by processing vast, heterogeneous datasets. Specifically, AI facilitates the identification of biomarkers, prediction of therapeutic targets, and simulation of drug effects on multi-organ systems, thereby paving the way for novel therapeutic strategies. This review highlights AI's transformative role in CNS-peripheral interaction research, focusing on its applications in unraveling disease mechanisms, discovering drug targets, and optimizing clinical trials through patient stratification and adaptive trial design.

Modulating Sympathetic Nervous System With the Use of SGLT2 Inhibitors: Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire?

Heart failure (HF) has become even more prevalent in recent years, because of improved diagnostics and an increase in the risk factors predisposing to its pathology. Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) emerged as one of the key pharmacotherapy options for both reduced and preserved ejection fraction, providing cardio- and renoprotection and improving mortality and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes. The pleiotropism of SGLT2i has led to multiple efforts to understand their distinct pathophysiologic interactions with various pathways, including microcirculation, endothelial dysfunction, and inflammation. More recently, the role of SGLT2i on the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is starting to be recognized, especially because observations of retained or reduced heart rate despite volume contraction have been noted by investigators in the large clinical trials testing the safety and efficacy of these agents. Both preclinical and clinical studies have been performed, with conflicting results. Interestingly, in both settings, although there are indications of SNS modulation by SGLT2i, other studies contradict such findings, without showing, however, worsening of the autonomic homeostasis. Given the importance of neuromodulation in HF, in both pharmacologic and interventional therapies, in this review, we aim to describe the role of SNS in CV disease, focusing on HF, analyze preclinical and clinical data regarding the efficacy of SGLT2i in modulating autonomic dysfunction by examining various markers of SNS activation, and provide the most plausible theoretical backgrounds on the mechanism of benefit of SNS from the inhibition of SGLT2 receptors.

A multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, parallel comparison, phase 3 trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pioglitazone add-on therapy in type 2 diabetic patients treated with metformin and dapagliflozin

AIM

To investigate the efficacy and safety of pioglitazone compared to placebo when added to metformin plus dapagliflozin, a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In a multicentre study, with a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, 249 Korean patients with T2DM suboptimally managed on metformin and dapagliflozin were assigned to receive either pioglitazone (15 mg daily) or placebo for 24 weeks, followed by a 24-week pioglitazone extension. Primary outcomes included changes in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), with secondary outcomes assessing insulin resistance, adiponectin levels, lipid profiles, liver enzymes, body weight and waist circumference.

RESULTS

Pioglitazone administration resulted in a significant reduction in HbA1c levels (from 7.80% ± 0.72% to 7.27% ± 0.82%) compared with placebo (from 7.79% ± 0.76% to 7.69% ± 0.86%, corrected mean difference: -0.42% ± 0.08%; p < 0.01) at 24 weeks. Additional benefits from pioglitazone treatment included enhanced insulin sensitivity, increased adiponectin levels, raised high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and reduced liver enzyme levels, resulting in improvement in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease liver fat score. Despite no serious adverse events in either group, pioglitazone therapy was modestly but significantly associated with weight gain and increased waist circumference.

CONCLUSIONS

Adjunctive pioglitazone treatment in T2DM inadequately controlled with metformin and dapagliflozin demonstrates considerable glycaemic improvement, metabolic benefits, and a low risk of hypoglycaemia. These advantages must be weighed against the potential for weight gain and increased waist circumference.

The Effect of Canagliflozin on High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Angiopoietin-Like Protein 3 in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background

Diabetes mellitus is often accompanied by dyslipidemia. Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), have been reported to exert effects on lipid, while the results remain controversial. This study is aimed at exploring the effect of SGLT2 inhibitor canagliflozin on lipid profile.

Methods

This study was a single-center, open-label, nonrandomized, prospective study. Metformin (500 mg three times per day) or canagliflozin (100 mg, once daily) was administered for 12 weeks. Fasting blood samples were collected before and 12 weeks after treatment. Serum lipid profile levels and angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) were determined. In animal experiment, C57BL/6 J mice were divided into three groups including control, STZ + HFD, and STZ + HFD + canagliflozin. Lipid profile and plasma ANGPTL3 level were measured after 12 week's treatment. Moreover, the expression of ANGPTL3 was detected in the liver tissues.

Results

There was a decreased trend in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and triglycerides (TG) after canagliflozin treatment, while canagliflozin significantly increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) level and decreased plasma ANGPTL3 level. In addition, the expression of ANGPTL3 in liver tissues decreased obviously in diabetic mice with canagliflozin treatment.

Conclusions

Canagliflozin increases HDL-c level and suppresses ANGPTL3 expression in patients with T2DM and diabetic mice. The reduction of ANGPTL3 may contribute to the increase of HDL-c. However, the specific mechanism needs further research. This trial is registered with ChiCTR1900021231.

The changes of cardiac energy metabolism with sodium-glucose transporter 2 inhibitor therapy

Background/aims

To investigate the specific effects of s odium-glucose transporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) on cardiac energy metabolism.

Methods

A systematic literature search was conducted in eight databases. The retrieved studies were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and relevant information was extracted according to the purpose of the study. Two researchers independently screened the studies, extracted information, and assessed article quality.

Results

The results of the 34 included studies (including 10 clinical and 24 animal studies) showed that SGLT2i inhibited cardiac glucose uptake and glycolysis, but promoted fatty acid (FA) metabolism in most disease states. SGLT2i upregulated ketone metabolism, improved the structure and functions of myocardial mitochondria, alleviated oxidative stress of cardiomyocytes in all literatures. SGLT2i increased cardiac glucose oxidation in diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiac FA metabolism in heart failure (HF). However, the regulatory effects of SGLT2i on cardiac FA metabolism in DM and cardiac glucose oxidation in HF varied with disease types, stages, and intervention duration of SGLT2i.

Conclusion

SGLT2i improved the efficiency of cardiac energy production by regulating FA, glucose and ketone metabolism, improving mitochondria structure and functions, and decreasing oxidative stress of cardiomyocytes under pathological conditions. Thus, SGLT2i is deemed to exert a benign regulatory effect on cardiac metabolic disorders in various diseases.

Systematic review registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/, PROSPERO (CRD42023484295).