Conclusion
Dapagliflozin is safe, increases body weight, decreases glycemia and oxidative stress, and attenuates cardiac remodeling in an experimental rat model of Type 1 diabetes mellitus.
Methods
Male Wistar rats were assigned into four groups: control (C, n = 14); control treated with dapagliflozin (C + DAPA, n = 14); diabetes (DM, n = 20); and diabetes treated with dapagliflozin (DM + DAPA, n = 20) for 8 weeks. Dapagliflozin dosage was 5 mg/kg/day. Statistical analyses: ANOVA and Tukey or Kruskal−Wallis and Dunn.
Results
DM + DAPA presented decreased blood pressure and glycemia and increased body weight compared to DM (C 507 ± 52; C + DAPA 474 ± 50; DM 381 ± 52 *; DM + DAPA 430 ± 48 # g; * p < 0.05 vs. C; # p < 0.05 vs. C + DAPA and DM + DAPA). DM echocardiogram presented left ventricular and left atrium dilation with impaired systolic and diastolic function. Cardiac changes were attenuated by dapagliflozin. Myocardial hydroxyproline concentration and interstitial collagen fraction did not differ between groups. The expression of Type III collagen was lower in DM and DM + DAPA than their controls. Type I collagen expression and Type I-to-III collagen ratio were lower in DM + DAPA than C + DAPA. DM + DAPA had lower lipid hydroperoxide concentration (C 275 ± 42; C + DAPA 299 ± 50; DM 385 ± 54 *; DM + DAPA 304 ± 40 # nmol/g tissue; * p < 0.05 vs. C; # p < 0.05 vs. DM) and higher superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activity than DM. Advanced glycation end products did not differ between groups.