Health-related quality of life and physical activity in children with inherited cardiac arrhythmia or inherited cardiomyopathy: the prospective multicentre controlled QUALIMYORYTHM study rationale, design and methods.

BACKGROUND: Advances in paediatric cardiology have improved the prognosis of children with inherited cardiac disorders. However, health-related quality of life (QoL) and physical activity have been scarcely analysed in children with inherited cardiac arrhythmia or inherited cardiomyopathy. Moreover, current guidelines on the eligibility of young athletes with inherited cardiac disorders for sports participation mainly rely on expert opinions and remain controversial. METHODS: The QUALIMYORYTHM trial is a multicentre observational controlled study. The main objective is to compare the QoL of children aged 6 to 17 years old with inherited cardiac arrhythmia (long QT syndrome, Brugada syndrome, catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, or arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia), or inherited cardiomyopathy (hypertrophic, dilated, or restrictive cardiomyopathy), to that of age and gender-matched healthy subjects. The secondary objective is to assess their QoL according to the disease's clinical and genetic characteristics, the level of physical activity and motivation for sports, the exercise capacity, and the socio-demographic data. Participants will wear a fitness tracker (ActiGraph GT3X accelerometer) for 2 weeks. A total of 214 children are required to observe a significant difference of 7 ± 15 points in the PedsQL, with a power of 90% and an alpha risk of 5%. DISCUSSION: After focusing on the survival in children with inherited cardiac disorders, current research is expanding to patient-reported outcomes and secondary prevention. The QUALIMYORYTHM trial intends to improve the level of evidence for future guidelines on sports eligibility in this population. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04712136, registered on January 15th, 2021 ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04712136 ).

Empagliflozin, via Switching Metabolism Toward Lipid Utilization, Moderately Increases LDL Cholesterol Levels Through Reduced LDL Catabolism.

In clinical trials, a small increase in LDL cholesterol has been reported with sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. The mechanisms by which the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin increases LDL cholesterol levels were investigated in hamsters with diet-induced dyslipidemia. Compared with vehicle, empagliflozin 30 mg/kg/day for 2 weeks significantly reduced fasting blood glucose by 18%, with significant increase in fasting plasma LDL cholesterol, free fatty acids, and total ketone bodies by 25, 49, and 116%, respectively. In fasting conditions, glycogen hepatic levels were further reduced by 84% with empagliflozin, while 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase activity and total cholesterol hepatic levels were 31 and 10% higher, respectively (both P < 0.05 vs. vehicle). A significant 20% reduction in hepatic LDL receptor protein expression was also observed with empagliflozin. Importantly, none of these parameters were changed by empagliflozin in fed conditions. Empagliflozin significantly reduced the catabolism of (3)H-cholesteryl oleate-labeled LDL injected intravenously by 20%, indicating that empagliflozin raises LDL levels through reduced catabolism. Unexpectedly, empagliflozin also reduced intestinal cholesterol absorption in vivo, which led to a significant increase in LDL- and macrophage-derived cholesterol fecal excretion (both P < 0.05 vs. vehicle). These data suggest that empagliflozin, by switching energy metabolism from carbohydrate to lipid utilization, moderately increases ketone production and LDL cholesterol levels. Interestingly, empagliflozin also reduces intestinal cholesterol absorption, which in turn promotes LDL- and macrophage-derived cholesterol fecal excretion.

Anacetrapib and dalcetrapib differentially alters HDL metabolism and macrophage-to-feces reverse cholesterol transport at similar levels of CETP inhibition in hamsters.

Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors dalcetrapib and anacetrapib differentially alter LDL- and HDL-cholesterol levels, which might be related to the potency of each drug to inhibit CETP activity. We evaluated the effects of both drugs at similar levels of CETP inhibition on macrophage-to-feces reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) in hamsters. In normolipidemic hamsters, both anacetrapib 30 mg/kg QD and dalcetrapib 200 mg/kg BID inhibited CETP activity by ~60%. After injection of 3H-cholesteryl oleate labeled HDL, anacetrapib and dalcetrapib reduced HDL-cholesteryl esters fractional catabolic rate (FCR) by 30% and 26% (both P<0.001 vs. vehicle) respectively, but only dalcetrapib increased HDL-derived 3H-tracer fecal excretion by 30% (P<0.05 vs. vehicle). After 3H-cholesterol labeled macrophage intraperitoneal injection, anacetrapib stimulated 3H-tracer appearance in HDL, but both drugs did not promote macrophage-derived 3H-tracer fecal excretion. In dyslipidemic hamsters, both anacetrapib 1 mg/kg QD and dalcetrapib 200 mg/kg BID inhibited CETP activity by ~65% and reduced HDL-cholesteryl ester FCR by 36% (both P<0.001 vs. vehicle), but only anacetrapib increased HDL-derived 3H-tracer fecal excretion significantly by 39%. After 3H-cholesterol labeled macrophage injection, only anacetrapib 1 mg/kg QD stimulated macrophage-derived 3H-tracer appearance in HDL. These effects remained weaker than those observed with anacetrapib 60 mg/kg QD, which induced a maximal inhibition of CETP and stimulation of macrophage-derived 3H-tracer fecal excretion. In contrast, dalcetrapib 200 mg/kg BID reduced macrophage-derived 3H-tracer fecal excretion by 23% (P<0.05 vs. vehicle). In conclusion, anacetrapib and dalcetrapib differentially alter HDL metabolism and RCT in hamsters. A stronger inhibition of CETP may be required to promote macrophage-to-feces reverse cholesterol transport in dyslipidemic hamsters.