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Heart failure

SGLT2 inhibitors and heart failure — clinical implications

The latest findings from the EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial show a 34% reduction in hospitalization for heart failure or cardiovascular death in patients receiving empagliflozin, a sodium/glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, compared with placebo. These outstanding results call for discussion of the clinical implications, and in-depth studies of the mechanisms of action of SGLT2 inhibitors.

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Figure 1: Hypothesis: SGLT2 inhibitors are mainly beneficial in patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy.

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Correspondence to Itamar Raz.

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Competing interests

I.R. declares that he is an Advisory Board member for AstraZeneca/Bristol–Meyers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Labstyle Innovations, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Orgenesis, Sanofi, and SmartZyme Innovation; that he is a consultant for AstraZeneca/Bristol–Meyers Squibb, the Diabetes Medical Center (Tel Aviv, Israel), FuturRx, Insuline Medical, Gili Medical, Kamada, and Nephrogenex; that he is in the Speaker's Bureau of AstraZeneca/Bristol–Meyers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, and Teva; and that he is a stock/shareholder of Glucome, Insuline Medical, Labstyle Innovations, Orgenesis, and SmartZyme Innovation. A.C. declares that she has received consulting fees and payment for lectures from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi.

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Raz, I., Cahn, A. SGLT2 inhibitors and heart failure — clinical implications. Nat Rev Cardiol 13, 185–186 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2016.35

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