Sotagliflozin significantly lowers Heart Attack and Stroke Risk, reports Lancet study

Sotagliflozin, recently approved by the FDA for treating type 2 diabetes and kidney disease in patients with cardiovascular risk factors, has been shown to significantly lower the risk of heart attack and stroke. These findings come from an international clinical trial led by a Mount Sinai researcher.

Sotagliflozin is a sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT) inhibitor. It blocks the function of two proteins, known as SGLT1 and SGLT2, which move glucose and sodium across cell membranes and help control blood sugar levels. Other SGLT2 inhibitors do not as significantly block SGLT1.

The study, published February 14 in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, is the first to show that an SGLT inhibitor has these unique cardiovascular benefits. The results mean that sotagliflozin could become more widely used to reduce the risk of deadly cardiovascular events globally.

“These results demonstrate a new mechanism of action—combined blockade with sotagliflozin of the SGLT1 receptors (found in the kidney, gut, heart, and brain) and SGLT2 receptors (found in the kidney)—to reduce heart attack and stroke risk,” says study chair Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, MBA, FACC, FAHA, FESC, MSCAI, Director of Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital and the Dr. Valentin Fuster Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “The benefits seen here are distinct from those seen with the other very popular SGLT2 inhibitors in widespread clinical use for diabetes, heart failure, and kidney disease.”