Endocrine Abstracts

Aims

We aimed to reveal the impacts of dapagliflozin, a sodium glucose transporter inhibitor (SGLT2i), on the body weight and body composition, cardiovascular risk indexes, and carotis intima-media thickness (CIMT).

Methods

Body weights, body compositions measured by means of bioelectrical impedance, and CIMT in the baseline, the 12th, and the 24th week of 42 patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus receiving SGLT2i treatment along with medication were measured. Visceral adiposity index (VAI), lipid accumulation product (LAP), and atherosclerotic index of plasma (AIP) were measured according to lipid measurements and anthropometric values.

Results

Mean change in total body weight and total fat mass was –2.96 and –1.97 kg, respectively (P <0.001). There was a reduction in total fat mass of 1.23 kg (from 31.4 to 29.3 kg, P <0.001) and in body fat percentage of 2.5% (from 35.8% to 34.4%, P <0.001) in the first 12 weeks. A mild increase was observed in both total fat mass and body fat percentage between the weeks of 12 and 24, which was not statistically significant (P = 0.783, P = 0.925 respectively) whereas there was a statistically significant reduction in hsCRP, AIP, and CIMT values (P = 0.006, P = 0.035, P = 0.007, respectively). No change observed in VAI and LAP values (P = 0.985, P = 0.636).

Discussion

We detected in our study that dapagliflozin causes a weight loss in the 24-week follow-up period. The rate of weight was explicit particularly in the first 12 weeks and it was observed with the reduction in total fat mass and body fat percentage. Apart from the studies on SGLT-2 inhibitors, we detected an increase in total fat mass and body fat percentage in spite of the fact that there was no reduction in weight in the follow-ups after the 12th week. According to our ideas, that our patients made less physical activity as a consequence of Covid-19 pandemic process, which had started during our follow-ups must have caused this situation. However, adding dapagliflozin to the current treatment was associated with the reduction in cardiovascular risk factors like hsCRP, CIMT, and PAI.

Conclusions

We have observed that dapagliflozin not only contributes to weight and fat loss but also has positive impacts on cardiovascular and atherosclerotic indicators.