Abstract
Summary
Empagliflozin (EMPA) is a promising novel antidiabetic drug; however, doubts have been raised regarding its use and the increased risk of urinary bladder carcinoma. In this study, we evaluated urothelium expression of cytokeratins (CKs) and Ki‐67 proliferative activity in the urinary bladder of diabetic (DM + EMPA) and non‐diabetic rats after EMPA administration. By routine histology, dysplastic changes were detected in the urothelium of diabetic as well as non‐diabetic animals after EMPA administration. Moreover, the expression of CK‐7 and CK‐8 was significantly decreased (P < .05) while that of CK‐20 as well as Ki‐67 was significantly increased (P < .05) in EMPA per se and DM + EMPA urothelium groups compared to that of control and diabetics. The dysplastic changes together with the increased proliferative activity in urothelium after EMPA administration provide a cellular evidence that supports the former clinical concerns.