Small Vanderbilt study: diabetes drug empagliflozin cut inflammatory blood-cell clumps in women with obesity

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center report in the journal Circulation that an SGLT2 inhibitor — a class of diabetes drugs already known to lower glucose and weight and to help heart and kidneys — also changed immune cells in people. The findings were announced on 6 October 2026.

The study

• 16 women with obesity and prediabetes took empagliflozin for three months; measurements were made at baseline, at two weeks and at three months.
• A comparator group of women followed a low-calorie diet for three months.
• Using genetic sequencing and cell imaging, the team found a significant fall in monocyte–platelet aggregates (MPAs) — clumps of clotting cells (platelets) stuck to immune cells (monocytes), which are thought to drive vascular inflammation.
• The drop was visible after two weeks and grew by week 12; only the drug group showed it, which the authors read as an effect beyond weight loss.
• Monocytes also shifted from a hyper-inflammatory state towards a more stable metabolic state.

“This study provides the first direct evidence of SGLT2 inhibitors altering human immune cells,” said lead researcher Mona Mashayekhi.

Limitations

• A very small pilot of women only, with a diet group as comparison rather than a randomised placebo.
• It measured blood-cell markers, not heart attacks, strokes or other clinical outcomes.
• A randomised, placebo-controlled trial of 74 people with obesity and metabolic syndrome is now enrolling at Vanderbilt.

Empagliflozin is a prescription drug; any change in treatment should be discussed with a doctor.