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‹ Sat · 25 Jul 2026
Standard addition

Treatment with dapagliflozin and empagliflozin reduces concentrations of N4-acetylcytidine in plasma, a biomarker associated with vascular damage.

Diabetes drugs reduce a newly-discovered marker of blood vessel damage, revealing a new biological mechanism explaining their heart-protective benefits.

This RCT demonstrates that SGLT2 inhibitors (dapagliflozin and empagliflozin) significantly reduce plasma N4-acetylcytidine, a recently identified biomarker of vascular endothelial damage, in diabetic patients with established atherosclerosis. This finding provides a novel mechanistic pathway linking SGLT2 inhibition to vascular protection, complementing existing evidence on cardiorenal mechanisms.

What the study was

Study design
Randomized controlled trial
Population
Patients with type 2 diabetes and established atherosclerosis
Category
Drug Development
Maturity
Validated
Journal
Cardiovascular diabetology

Why it surfaced

RCT demonstrating SGLT2 inhibitors reduce N4-acetylcytidine (novel vascular damage biomarker) in diabetic atherosclerosis. Provides new mechanistic insight into SGLT2 vascular protection. Published in Cardiovasc Diabetol (Schmieder RE, Maas R — Erlangen-Nuremberg group).

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