Obesity is associated with increased cardiometabolic disease risk due, in part, to heightened chronic inflammation arising from adipose tissue. There are no current targeted therapies to prevent or reverse the chronic inflammation of obesity, and a better understanding of these inflammatory pathways in humans is key to future therapeutic interventions. This project will determine both the anti-inflammatory potential of the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin, and the contribution of adipose inflammation to surrogate measures of cardiovascular disease in a randomized controlled trial of obese patients.
This study will be expanded to include another 10 participants. Enrollment will begin July 1, 2023.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
29
Oral empagliflozin daily
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Change in Adipose Pro-inflammatory T Helper Type 1 Cell Percentages After 3 Months
Pro-inflammatory T helper type 1 cells are quantified using flow cytometry
Time frame: Baseline to 12 weeks
Change in Flow-mediated Dilation After 3 Months
Endothelial function quantified using flow-mediated dilation by ultrasound, measuring percentage increase in artery diameter during hyperemia.
Time frame: Baseline to 12 weeks
Change in Liver Steatosis at 3 Months
Liver steatosis assessment by transient elastography-controlled attenuation parameter imaging, reported as Controlled Attenuation Parameter (CAP)
Time frame: Baseline to 12 weeks
Change in Adipose Pro-inflammatory T Helper Type 1 Cell Percentages After 2 Weeks
Pro-inflammatory T cells are quantified using flow cytometry
Time frame: Baseline to 2 weeks
Change in the Plasma Inflammatory Cytokine IL-6 After 3 Months
IL-6 is quantified in plasma samples.
Time frame: Baseline to 12 weeks
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