The September issue of Journal of Heart and Lung Transplant presents new data pointing to sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors — drugs like dapagliflozin and empagliflozin, originally developed for diabetes — as a potential novel avenue for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension. Initially valued for their effect on kidney glucose reabsorption, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors were later found to reduce cardiovascular events, earning class I guideline recommendations for both HFrEF (Heart Failure with reduced Ejection Fraction) and HFpEF (Heart Failure with preserved Ejection Fraction) – notably, the first therapy to improve outcomes in the latter – as well as for slowing chronic kidney disease progression. HFrEF and HFpEF are the two main forms of left heart disease that fall under WHO Group 2 pulmonary hypertension — pulmonary hypertension due to left heart disease.
Read abstract at this link on the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplant. Full article is available only on request.
Citation
Jeffery DA, Toshner M, Pepke-Zaba J. A familiar drug in unfamiliar territory: Will we manage to repurpose SGLT2 inhibitors in pulmonary arterial hypertension? J Heart Lung Transplant. 2026 Sep 3:S1053-2498(26)02073-5. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2026.08.020. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42692123.