SGLT2 Inhibitors as a Novel Treatment for Pediatric Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (SLIDE)

This study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial specifically designed to evaluate the preliminary feasibility, initial efficacy and safety of SGLT2 inhibitors for treating NAFLD in adolescents with obesity.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: NAFLD; Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; Pediatric NAFLD
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Empagliflozin 10 MG; Drug: Placebo Oral Tablet

Detailed Description

The overall aim of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility and obtain a preliminary estimate of efficacy and safety of the SGLT2 inhibitor, empagliflozin, in adolescents with obesity (BMI-percentile ≥95th) who have MRI-confirmed NAFLD (hepatic fat fraction ≥ 5.5%) and have normal fasting glucose.

Participants will take empagliflozin, once daily, in the morning, with or without food, in addition to receiving lifestyle/behavioral counseling throughout the study.

The following data will be collected throughout the course of the study: Physical exam with tanner staging, safety and fasting labs, fasting blood draw (biomarkers), urine sample, stool sample, OGTT, CGM sensor placement and removal, MRI scan (MRS-Liver), BMI/anthropometrics, urine pregnancy test for female participants, iDXA scan (body fat and bone density), arterial stiffness and blood pressure.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 40
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Patti Laqua; Phone Number: 651-704-2080; Email: laqua001@umn.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Kelly McCormick; Phone Number: 612-624-3315; Email: kmmccorm@umn.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Minnesota
    • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55455
      • University of Minnesota
      • Contact: Patti Laqua
      • Principal Investigator: Justin Ryder, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 12 years to 17 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

For clinical referral to screening visit:

1. Age: 12 to <20 years old
2. Diagnosis of Obesity: BMI-percentile ≥95th (using age- and sex- based Center for Disease Control definitions) or BMI ≥30 kg/m2
3. Elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) more than twice the upper limit of normal by gender (≥44 U/L for girls, ≥50 U/L for boys) within 3 months prior to screening (used for historic ALT value) OR diagnosis of NAFLD from ultrasound, MRI, or participants with biopsy-proven NASH within 12 moths of screening
4. History of lifestyle modification to treat obesity or NAFLD

To be obtained at screening visit:

1. Confirmation of Obesity
2. Tanner stage 2
3. Normal fasting glucose tolerance (fasting blood glucose <100 mg/dL)

4. If Screening ALT is used as inclusion criteria [if > 2x historic ALT value (historical value obtained clinically within 12 months of screening visit), repeated after 4 weeks [unable to randomize until completed]]. If the repeat ALT is more than 50% increased or decreased over the screening ALT, a third ALT should be obtained. If a third ALT is not within 50% of the previous value, then the subject is ineligible but may be screened at a later date. If ALT is not used:

   • An ultrasound will be done to diagnose NAFLD if the diagnosis has not previously been made by ultrasound, MRI or biopsy
   • A MRI-derived HFF ≥ 5.5%
5. Willingness to adhere to lifestyle considerations throughout the study

Exclusion Criteria:

1. ALT > 250U/L at screening
2. History of significant alcohol intake or current use
3. Impaired fasting glucose (>100 mg/dL)
4. Diabetes (type 1 or 2)
5. Current or recent (<6 months prior to enrollment) use of weight loss medication(s)
6. Vitamin E supplementation
7. Previous bariatric surgery
8. Use of metformin
9. Prior use of empagliflozin
10. Lower limb infection/ulceration within 3 months of screening
11. Metal or magnetic implants, devices or objects inside of or on the body, which are not MRI compatible
12. Structural and functional urogenital abnormalities, that predispose for urogenital infections
13. Recent initiation (<3 months prior to enrollment) of anti-hypertensive or lipid medication(s)
14. Major psychiatric disorder
15. Current pregnancy or plans to become pregnant.Females unwilling to be tested for pregnancy. Females will be tested for pregnancy. Females who are sexually active and not protected by an effective method of birth control (e.g. UID or medication or patch)
16. Tobacco use

17. Significant liver dysfunction (levels >5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN)):

    ALT (ULN = 50 U/L) AST (ULN = 48 U/L) GGT (ULN = 48 U/L) ALP (ULN = 115 U/L)

18. Platelets < 150,000 cells/mm3
19. Total bilirubin 1.3 mg/dL
20. INR 1.3
21. Albumin <3.2 g/dL
22. Gilbert's Syndrome
23. Any known causes of liver disease (except NAFLD and NASH)
24. Significant renal dysfunction (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] < 90 mL/min/1.73 m2),
25. Diagnosed monogenic obesity
26. History of cancer
27. Untreated thyroid disorder
28. History of decompensation events (ascites, variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, or hepatocellular carcinoma)
29. Current or recent (<6 months prior to enrollment) use of medication(s) associated with weight gain (e.g. atypical anti-psychotics)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Quadruple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Study intervention; Empagliflozin 10 mg will be taken daily	Drug: Empagliflozin 10 MG; Participants will take a 10 mg oral tablet of empagliflozin, an orally-active inhibitor of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2); Other Names: Jardiance
Placebo Comparator: Control arm; Placebo oral tablet will be taken daily	Drug: Placebo Oral Tablet; Participants will take an identical appearing oral tablet with zero active ingredient.; Other Names: Control group

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Efficacy as Measured by Change in Hepatic Fat Fraction (HFF)	HFF is measured by MRI via 1H- magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). HFF will be measured with single-voxel 1H-MRS on a 3.0 T Trio whole body MRI scanner, using the software package provided by the vendor. The MR elastography measurement will consist of a phase-contrast 2D GRE scan (TR/TE = 50/25 ms, matrix 256 x 90, GRAPPA R=3, slice thickness 7mm) with motion encoding in the z-direction, and acoustic excitation at 60 Hz. Four axial slices will be acquired, each with a single breath-hold. Manual ROIs covering the liver will be drawn on the stiffness maps (in kPa units) generated by the system software. Fibrosis staging will be determined following previously published guidelines.	Baseline to 26 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Body Measurements: Body mass index (BMI)	Height and weight will be measured using a calibrated, wall-mounted stadiometer and an electronic scale, respectively. Three consecutive height and weight measurements will be obtained and averaged. BMI will be calculated as the weight in kilograms divided by the height in meters, squared.	Baseline to 26 weeks
Change in Body Measurements: Body Fat %	Total percent body fat mass and lean muscle mass will be determined by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (iDXA, GE Healthcare). Body fat percentage is calculated by body fat mass divided by the sum of fat and lean masses.	Baseline to 26 weeks
Change in Body Measurements: Visceral Fat %	Total body fat mass and visceral fat mass will be determined by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (iDXA, GE Healthcare). Visceral fat percentage of total body mass is calculated by visceral fat mass divided by the sum of total fat and lean masses. Visceral fat percentage of total fat mass is calculated by visceral fat mass divided by total fat mass.	Baseline to 26 weeks
Change in Biomarkers of NAFLD: Alanine transaminase (ALT)	Fasting (≥12 hours) blood will be collected for the measurement of ALT at Fairview Diagnostics Laboratories, Fairview-University Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN - a Center for Disease Control and Prevention certified laboratory.	Baseline to 26 weeks
Change in Biomarkers of NAFLD: Cytokeratin (CK)-18	Fasting plasma samples will be used to measure CK-18 via Luminex Multiplex platform (Millipore, St. Louis, MO).	Baseline to 26 weeks
Change in Blood Pressure	Blood pressure measurements will be obtained manually on the same arm using the same cuff size and equipment. Standardized procedures will be employed as described in previously published standards. Individual cuff size will be determined by measuring the arm circumference midway between the acromial process and the bony olecranon. Sitting blood pressure and heart rate will be measured after the participant has been resting quietly without legs crossed for 10 minutes. Measurements will be made three consecutive times (3-minute intervals). The final two of three independent measurements will be averaged.	Baseline to 26 weeks
Change in Arterial Stiffness	Carotid- and femoral artery augmentation index and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) will be measured by the SphygmoCor® MM3 system (AtCor Medical, Sydney, Australia). Augmentation index is a measure of the relative magnitude of the reflected (or retrograde) pulse wave early in the cardiac cycle. Higher values of augmentation index represent increased arterial stiffening. PWV will be calculated as distance divided by transit time. Since pulse wave transit time decreases in stiffer arterial segments, higher values of pulse wave velocity represent increased arterial stiffness.	Baseline to 26 weeks
Change in Glycemic Control	After fasting measures are completed, we will perform a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test with fasting (-15 and 0-min) and serial postprandial (15-, 30-, 45-, 60-, 90-, and 120-minutes) plasma concentrations of glucose (glucose oxidase, YSI INC., Yellow Sprigs, OH) and insulin (ELISA, ALPCO Diagnostics, Windham, NH) measured after administration of a 75g glucose challenge. Samples will be batched and a stored for analysis at the completion of the study. Insulin sensitivity will be estimated by the whole-body insulin sensitivity index (WBISI) using plasma glucose and insulin concentrations.	Baseline to 26 weeks
Change in Proton Density Fat Fraction (PDFF) from MRI	A proton density fat fraction (PDFF) image will be acquired using LiverLab's "qdixon" imaging acquisition (3D gradient echo, TR=9ms, flip angle=4°, TE=1.15, 2.46, 3.69, 4.92, 6.15, 7.38 ms, 2x2x3.5mm resolution, one 17s breath-hold). The MRS measurement of HFF will be used as the primary metric. As a secondary endpoint we will use PDFF which has shown promise as a measure of fibrosis staging compared to liver biopsy in children.	Baseline to 26 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Justin Ryder, PhD, University of Minnesota

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): May 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 28, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 5, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): March 8, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 9, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 5, 2024
• Last Verified: April 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Liver Diseases; Fatty Liver; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; Hypoglycemic Agents; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Sodium-Glucose Transporter 2 Inhibitors; Empagliflozin
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB 2023-6034

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No