Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Empagliflozin Attenuates Vascular Calcification in Mice with Chronic Kidney Disease by Regulating the NFR2/HO-1 Anti-Inflammatory Pathway through AMPK Activation

Version 1 : Received: 25 April 2023 / Approved: 27 April 2023 / Online: 27 April 2023 (09:35:25 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Lu, C.-W.; Lee, C.-J.; Hsieh, Y.-J.; Hsu, B.-G. Empagliflozin Attenuates Vascular Calcification in Mice with Chronic Kidney Disease by Regulating the NFR2/HO-1 Anti-Inflammatory Pathway through AMPK Activation. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 10016. Lu, C.-W.; Lee, C.-J.; Hsieh, Y.-J.; Hsu, B.-G. Empagliflozin Attenuates Vascular Calcification in Mice with Chronic Kidney Disease by Regulating the NFR2/HO-1 Anti-Inflammatory Pathway through AMPK Activation. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 10016.

Abstract

Vascular calcification (VC) is associated with increased cardiovascular risks in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, like empagliflozin, can improve cardiovascular and renal outcomes. We assessed the expression of Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor (Nrf2), and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) in inorganic phosphate–induced VC in mouse VSMCs to investigate the mechanisms underlying empagliflozin’s therapeutic effects. We evaluated biochemical parameters, mean artery pressure (MAP), pulse wave velocity (PWV), transcutaneous glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and histology in an in vivo mouse model with VC induced by an oral high-phosphorus diet following a 5/6 nephrectomy in ApoE−/− mice. Compared to the control group, empagliflozin-treated mice showed significant reductions in blood glucose, MAP, PWV, and calcification, as well as increased calcium and GFR levels. Empagliflozin inhibited osteogenic trans-differentiation by decreasing inflammatory cytokine expression and increasing AMPK, Nrf2, and HO-1 levels. Empagliflozin mitigates high phosphate–induced calcification in mouse VSMCs through the Nrf2/HO-1 anti-inflammatory pathway by activating AMPK. Animal experiments suggested that empagliflozin reduces VC in CKD ApoE−/− mice on a high-phosphate diet.

Keywords

empagliflozin; vascular calcification; AMP-activated protein kinase; nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor; heme oxygenase 1; chronic kidney disease

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Urology and Nephrology

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