While Valentine’s Day may have passed, prioritizing your heart health is always timely.

A recent pioneering study indicates that sotagliflozin, a drug recently sanctioned for the management of type 2 diabetes and kidney disease in individuals with heightened cardiovascular risk, can notably decrease the chances of heart attacks and strokes.

Experts believe that sotagliflozin, commercially branded as Inpefa, stands out as the first medication of its type to provide these significant cardiovascular advantages, potentially leading to its wider application.

Sotagliflozin functions as a sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT) inhibitor, obstructing two proteins, SGLT1 and SGLT2, responsible for transporting glucose and sodium across cell membranes, thereby aiding blood sugar regulation.

“Sotagliflozin is the first SGLT inhibitor to significantly lower the risks associated with myocardial infarction and stroke,” the researchers stated in the study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. “The observed stroke benefits in this study appear to be unique to sotagliflozin, which were not seen in trials involving selective SGLT2 inhibitors.”

In this trial, a total of 10,584 patients with chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, and additional cardiovascular risk factors were enrolled. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either sotagliflozin or a placebo, with follow-up lasting an average of 16 months.

Participants receiving sotagliflozin showed a 23% reduction in heart attacks, strokes, and deaths related to cardiovascular issues compared to those who received the placebo.

“These findings showcase a novel mechanism of action with sotagliflozin’s combined blockade of SGLT1 receptors (located in the kidney, gut, heart, and brain) and SGLT2 receptors (found in the kidney) to mitigate the risks of heart attack and stroke,” explained Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt, chair of the study, director at the Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, and professor at the Icahn School of Medicine, in an official statement.

“The benefits observed here are distinct from those associated with other widely used SGLT2 inhibitors for diabetes, heart failure, and kidney disease,” he added.

There is a complex relationship between diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and heart disease, as noted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Over 38.4 million Americans are affected by diabetes, a condition that arises when the body cannot produce sufficient insulin or utilize it effectively, resulting in elevated blood glucose levels.

Persistently high blood sugar levels can harm the kidneys, limiting their ability to filter blood effectively, and can lead to chronic kidney disease. In fact, around one in three U.S. adults with diabetes also faces this chronic condition.

As kidney function declines, the heart endures added pressure to pump blood, increasing the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.

The interplay of diabetes and kidney disease further amplifies the risk of stroke, as both conditions can inflict damage on blood vessels.

The findings from the sotagliflozin study provide a promising therapeutic avenue to tackle these interconnected health concerns simultaneously.

“Healthcare providers now have a new option to not only reduce overall cardiovascular risks such as heart failure and progression of kidney disease but also diminish the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes in patients with either heart failure, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and other cardiovascular risk factors,” Dr. Bhatt remarked.