Canagliflozin Attenuates Lipotoxicity in Cardiomyocytes and Protects Diabetic Mouse Hearts by Targeting the mTOR/HIF-1α Pathway

Abstract BackgroundLipotoxicity plays an important role in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy and heart failure (HF). Canagliflozin (CAN), a marketed sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor, has significant beneficial effects on HF. However, the potential pharmacological mechanism is still unknown.MethodsIn this study, we evaluated the protective effects and mechanism of CAN in the hearts of a C57BL/6J diabetic mouse model induced by a high-fat diet/streptozotocin (HFD/STZ) for 12 weeks in vivo and using HL-1 cells (a type of mouse cardiomyocyte line) induced by palmitic acid (PA) in vitro.ResultsCAN could significantly alleviate lipid accumulation and inflammatory responses in the hearts of the HFD/STZ-induced diabetic mice. Furthermore, CAN significantly attenuated the inflammatory injury induced by PA in the HL-1 cells. In addition, CAN bound to the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and significantly inhibited mTOR phosphorylation and hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) expression.ConclusionCAN attenuated lipotoxicity in cardiomyocytes and protected diabetic mouse hearts by targeting the mTOR/HIF-1α pathway.