The overall study design is a 13-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention trial, testing the ability of empagliflozin to improve glucose metabolism among overweight and obese individuals with prediabetes (compared with a multivitamin-placebo). The study involves metabolic testing before and during the intervention to identify changes in outcomes as a function of the intervention and to ensure participant safety. The study involves 9 visits to the Samaritan Athletic Medicine Center on the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Full completion of the study is anticipated to take ~4 months. The project is being completed in collaboration with physicians at Samaritan Health Services.
The overall purpose of this study is to identify how empagliflozin (a drug commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes) impacts skeletal muscle metabolic health among adults with prediabetes. Our aims are to: 1) Test the ability of empagliflozin to improve regulation of glucose metabolism (i.e., blood sugar) among overweight and obese individuals with prediabetes, and 2) Identify mechanisms to explain how empagliflozin may improve skeletal muscle glucose metabolism. We hypothesize empagliflozin will improve regulation of glucose metabolism due to changes in whole-body and skeletal muscle metabolism (e.g., increased rates of whole-body fat oxidation, evidence of impaired skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiratory function and increased energetic stress, lower accumulation of skeletal muscle lipids and improved skeletal muscle insulin signaling compared with placebo treatment).