Conclusions
Dapagliflozin add-on therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes reduced myostatin levels significantly and maintained SMM, without significant changes in FGF21 levels.
Methods
A total of 54 patients with type 2 diabetes were randomly divided into dapagliflozin and control groups. The dapagliflozin group received dapagliflozin 5 mg/day in addition to conventional therapy for 24 weeks. The primary outcome was the change in the level of serum FGF21 from baseline. The secondary outcomes included changes from baseline in anthropometric/metabolic parameters and serum levels of myostatin and irisin.
Results
Bodyweight decreased in the dapagliflozin group compared with the control group (P < 0.001), but the changes in SMM were not significant between the groups (P = 0.611), thereby elevating the ratio of SMM-to-bodyweight in the dapagliflozin group (P = 0.028). Myostatin levels were significantly decreased (P = 0.010), and irisin levels showed a nearly significant reduction (P = 0.052) in the dapagliflozin group compared with the control group, whereas FGF21 levels did not change significantly from baseline to the end of the intervention in both the dapagliflozin (P = 0.673) and the control (P = 0.823) groups. Conclusions: Dapagliflozin add-on therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes reduced myostatin levels significantly and maintained SMM, without significant changes in FGF21 levels.