News | Can lowering blood glucose support fertility? Dapagliflozin may offer new hope for women with obesity
A University of Queensland-led study published in the Journal of Endocrinology found that lowering blood glucose may improve reproductive hormone profiles and ovulatory function in women with obesity, potentially enhancing fertility. The research focused on Dapagliflozin, a common treatment for type 2 diabetes, which showed potential as a new treatment for obesity-related infertility in an animal model.
Metabolic disruption behind fertility problems
Women with obesity commonly experience irregular ovulation, menstrual disorders, and abnormal hormone levels. First author Dr. Cui, a visiting scholar from Chengdu Women’s and Children’s Central Hospital in China, said: “These symptoms are often seen simply as hormonal imbalance, but the deeper cause may be disruption of the reproductive axis by abnormal energy metabolism.”
Obesity also significantly increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. Associated metabolic problems—including high blood glucose, insulin resistance, and chronic inflammation—may all disrupt normal reproductive hormone patterns and ovulatory mechanisms.
Results: ovulatory function improved significantly after 8 weeks of treatment
The study used MC4R knockout (KO) mice, a standard obesity model that closely resembles human obesity, metabolic dysfunction, and reproductive hormone imbalance.
After 8 consecutive weeks of Dapagliflozin treatment, the mice showed the following changes:
Blood glucose returned to normal;
Body weight decreased significantly;
Reproductive cycles became regular again;
Hormone levels and ovulatory function partly recovered, with clear improvement over the untreated group.
Professor Chen of The University of Queensland said: “Although the research is still at an early stage, these findings indicate that improving glucose metabolism may offer a new approach to obesity-related infertility.”
Clinical relevance: new hope for a fertility problem with no established solution
There is currently no clearly effective treatment for infertility caused by obesity. As an approved glucose-lowering drug, Dapagliflozin has an established safety foundation and extensive clinical use. If future human studies confirm these findings, it may help restore fertility while supporting metabolic health and quality of life.
“We need to investigate Dapagliflozin’s pathways in the female reproductive system more deeply and identify its regulatory mechanisms so that more precise fertility interventions can be developed,” Professor Chen added.
He also emphasized that the study was conducted only in mice and that further research is required before clinical use in humans.
News | Can lowering blood glucose support fertility? Dapagliflozin may offer new hope for women with obesity
News | Can lowering blood glucose support fertility? Dapagliflozin may offer new hope for women with obesity
A University of Queensland-led study published in the Journal of Endocrinology found that lowering blood glucose may improve reproductive hormone profiles and ovulatory function in women with obesity, potentially enhancing fertility. The research focused on Dapagliflozin, a common treatment for type 2 diabetes, which showed potential as a new treatment for obesity-related infertility in an animal model.
Metabolic disruption behind fertility problems
Women with obesity commonly experience irregular ovulation, menstrual disorders, and abnormal hormone levels. First author Dr. Cui, a visiting scholar from Chengdu Women’s and Children’s Central Hospital in China, said: “These symptoms are often seen simply as hormonal imbalance, but the deeper cause may be disruption of the reproductive axis by abnormal energy metabolism.”
Obesity also significantly increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. Associated metabolic problems—including high blood glucose, insulin resistance, and chronic inflammation—may all disrupt normal reproductive hormone patterns and ovulatory mechanisms.
Results: ovulatory function improved significantly after 8 weeks of treatment
The study used MC4R knockout (KO) mice, a standard obesity model that closely resembles human obesity, metabolic dysfunction, and reproductive hormone imbalance.
After 8 consecutive weeks of Dapagliflozin treatment, the mice showed the following changes:
Blood glucose returned to normal;
Body weight decreased significantly;
Reproductive cycles became regular again;
Hormone levels and ovulatory function partly recovered, with clear improvement over the untreated group.
Professor Chen of The University of Queensland said: “Although the research is still at an early stage, these findings indicate that improving glucose metabolism may offer a new approach to obesity-related infertility.”
Clinical relevance: new hope for a fertility problem with no established solution
There is currently no clearly effective treatment for infertility caused by obesity. As an approved glucose-lowering drug, Dapagliflozin has an established safety foundation and extensive clinical use. If future human studies confirm these findings, it may help restore fertility while supporting metabolic health and quality of life.
“We need to investigate Dapagliflozin’s pathways in the female reproductive system more deeply and identify its regulatory mechanisms so that more precise fertility interventions can be developed,” Professor Chen added.
He also emphasized that the study was conducted only in mice and that further research is required before clinical use in humans.
Source:
Collected online