March 3, 2026

expert reaction to study in rodent cells looking at how the GLP-1 peptide might impact measures of heart vessel damage

 A study in rodent cells published in Nature Communications looks at GLP-1 peptides and heart vessel damage. 

Prof Bryan Williams, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, BHF (British Heart Foundation), said: 

“Restoring blood flow to the heart muscle is a major objective of heart attack treatment, not just through opening up the major arteries supplying the heart, but also restoring blood flow through the smaller microvessels that supply the heart muscle.

“This research suggests that mimicking the action of the GLP‑1 hormone may have potential to improve blood flow through microvessels and perhaps one day could have a role in heart attack treatment.  This will require detailed studies in humans and clinical trials first.

“Large clinical trials of GLP‑1 medicines, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, have shown benefits on heart health beyond weight loss.  But how they produce these effects has remained unclear.  This fascinating study offers one possible explanation, suggesting that they may help to improve blood flow through the heart’s smallest blood vessels.”

‘GLP-1 activates KATP channels in coronary pericytes as the effector of brain-gut-heart signalling mediating cardioprotection’ by Svetlana Mastitskaya et al. was published in Nature Communications at 00:01 UK time on Tuesday 3 March 2026. 

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-69555-1

Declared interests

No declaration received for Prof Bryan Williams specifically.

For the BHF: “Dr Svetlana Mastitskaya has a BHF Research Fellowship, which helped to support this study.  David Attwell (senior author) is Director of the BHF-UK DRI Centre for Vascular Dementia Research.”