New drug against diabetes protects the heart and 'cures' obesity

It is a drug against diabetes, but it also appears to be able to protect the heart and combat obesity. It is called tirzepatide (Tzt), it has just debuted on the US market and is the protagonist of an Italian study published in 'Cardiovascular Diabetology', signed by a team of researchers coordinated by Giuseppe Paolisso, professor at the UniCamillus University of Rome and full professor of Internal medicine at the Vanvitelli University of Naples. The work also involved scientists from the University of Salerno and the Inrca-Irccs of Ancona.

I study

Using a 3-step approach, the authors conducted a meta-analysis on the action of Tzt at the cardiovascular level. In the laboratory, they evaluated the cardiac protective effects in vitro on human cardiac cells, then performed a bioinformatic analysis to confirm its mechanism of action.

“Powerful protective effects on the heart” have emerged, informs a note from UniCamillus. “The results – we read – showed that tirzepatide reduces the chances of serious cardiovascular events, protecting cardiac cells from hypertrophy, fibrosis and cell death. Furthermore, it promotes cardiac contractility”. For the scholars, “the fact that it is an anti-diabetic drug makes this active ingredient doubly valid, considering that diabetic subjects are exposed to a greater risk of developing cardiovascular complications, including heart failure”.

The new drug

Tirzepatide, not yet available in Italy, “is a new drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes – explains Paolisso – which however is also associated with notable anti-obesity effects, as well as protective against diabetes-induced heart disease. In our study highlights that the cardioprotective effects of Tzt are linked to anti-inflammatory action and to contrast oxidative stress and cardiac fibrosis.

These effects make this new drug extremely topical and highly effective in the treatment of type 2 diabetes”, underlines the specialist who adds: “Everyone agrees that it will replace semaglutide”, the active ingredient of the anti-diabetes Ozempic and of its slimming version Wegovy, “as a drug for losing weight, and which could soon become the most effective principle for treating obesity and diabetes, as well as for preventing cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of death in type 2 diabetic patients”.