SGLT2 inhibitors could potentially target key mechanisms activated in COVID-19, increasing lipolysis, reducing glycolysis, inflammation and oxidative stress, and improving endothelial function to reduce organ damage, according to a speaker.

“We know that favorable effects on mechanisms such as endothelial function, a key driver of adverse outcomes in COVID-19, can occur very quickly after treatment with SGLT2 inhibitors,” Mikhail Kosiborod, MD, FACC, FAHA, cardiologist at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, professor of medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, said during an online presentation during the virtual Heart in Diabetes conference. “If you think through these mechanisms and the fact that SGLT2 inhibitors can have a positive impact on many of them, what becomes clear is that testing SGLT2 inhibitors as potential agents for organ protection in COVID-19 may be one of the key hypotheses.”

Read Healio's full article: DARE-19: Dapagliflozin could target key mechanisms activated in COVID-19