- Università degli Studi di Salerno
- The aim of the project is to understand the role of cardiac mitochondrial function in the EAT-heart axis in a preclinical model of HFpEF and to identify the molecular mechanisms by which GLP-1 receptor agonists, SGLT2 inhibitors, may perform their cardioprotective activity. Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a common clinical syndrome frequently observed in elderly patients, the incidence of which is steadily increasing due to the aging population and the increasing incidence of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, chronic renal failure, and so on. It is a multifactorial disease with different phenotypic aspects united by left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, and is the cause of about 50% of heart failure hospitalizations in the Western world. Due to the complexity of the disease, to date, no specific therapies have been identified. Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2-I) inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) are antidiabetic drugs that have been shown to positively affect heart and kidney disease by restoring cardioprotective function of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT).