EMPOWIR:Enhance the Metabolic Profile of Women With Insulin Resistance

Overview[ - collapse ][ - ]

Purpose The goal of the study is to identify and treat women with midlife weight gain who have normal blood sugars, but increased insulin levels (hyperinsulinemia) following the performance of a glucose tolerance test. The study will evaluate effects of a unique carbohydrate modified diet alone and in combination with metformin(MF) and Avandamet® (MF plus rosiglitazone (RSG)) on insulin levels in a wide range of ethnically diverse women (aged 35-55) at three academic medical centers. The primary study hypothesis is that insulin sensitizing medications, in combination with alterations in carbohydrate intake, will reduce insulin levels and improve established risk factors for the metabolic syndrome. The alarming prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and related comorbidities and the paucity of easily adopted, cost-effective preventive strategies for high risk populations, suggest that pharmaco-therapies and dietary regimens targeted to reducing insulin resistance could have important clinical and public health implications.
ConditionHyperinsulinemia
Insulin Resistance
Obesity
InterventionDrug: metformin and rosiglitazone
PhasePhase 2
SponsorNew York Medical College
Responsible PartyNew York Medical College
ClinicalTrials.gov IdentifierNCT00618072
First ReceivedFebruary 5, 2008
Last UpdatedMarch 27, 2014
Last verifiedMarch 2014

Tracking Information[ + expand ][ + ]

First Received DateFebruary 5, 2008
Last Updated DateMarch 27, 2014
Start DateJanuary 2008
Estimated Primary Completion DateJanuary 2011
Current Primary Outcome MeasuresFasting Insulin [Time Frame: 6 months] [Designated as safety issue: No]Insulin was determined with a Siemens Immulite assay with respective intra-and inter-CV's 5.7 and 5.9%, and no cross reactivity to pro-insulin.
Current Secondary Outcome Measures
  • Body Weight [Time Frame: 6 months] [Designated as safety issue: No]Body weight measurement was performed three times and averaged by a single study coordinator.
  • HOMA-IR [Time Frame: 6 months] [Designated as safety issue: No]HOMA-IR was calculated by the formula: fasting insulin (uU/mL) times fasting glucose (mg/L) divided by 22.5.
  • Waist Circumference [Time Frame: 6 months] [Designated as safety issue: No]
  • Systolic BP [Time Frame: 6 months] [Designated as safety issue: No]Blood pressure was assessed using NCEP guidelines.
  • Diastolic BP [Time Frame: 6 months] [Designated as safety issue: No]Blood pressure was assessed using NCEP guidelines.
  • HDL [Time Frame: 6 months] [Designated as safety issue: No]HDL was measured using two reagents homogeneous systems with selective detergents to homogenize the lipoprotein of interest.
  • Triglycerides [Time Frame: 6 months] [Designated as safety issue: No]Triglycerides were measured by enzymatic immunoassay on an AU400 chemistry auto-analyzer with commercially available enzymatic reagents.
  • Adiponectin [Time Frame: 6 months] [Designated as safety issue: No]Total adiponectin was measured with a commercial ELISA kit (Millipore/Linco Research, St. Charles, MO) in the laboratory of Dr. Philipp Scherer.

Descriptive Information[ + expand ][ + ]

Brief TitleEMPOWIR:Enhance the Metabolic Profile of Women With Insulin Resistance
Official TitleEMPOWIR: Enhance the Metabolic Profile of Women With Insulin Resistance: Carbohydrate Modified Diet Alone and in Combination With Metformin or Metformin Plus Avandia in Non-diabetic Women With Midlife Weight Gain and Documented Insulin Elevations (Syndrome W)
Brief Summary
The goal of the study is to identify and treat women with midlife weight gain who have
normal blood sugars, but increased insulin levels (hyperinsulinemia) following the
performance of a glucose tolerance test. The study will evaluate effects of a unique
carbohydrate modified diet alone and in combination with metformin(MF) and Avandamet® (MF
plus rosiglitazone (RSG)) on insulin levels in a wide range of ethnically diverse women
(aged 35-55) at three academic medical centers. The primary study hypothesis is that insulin
sensitizing medications, in combination with alterations in carbohydrate intake, will reduce
insulin levels and improve established risk factors for the metabolic syndrome.

The alarming prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and related comorbidities and the paucity of
easily adopted, cost-effective preventive strategies for high risk populations, suggest that
pharmaco-therapies and dietary regimens targeted to reducing insulin resistance could have
important clinical and public health implications.
Detailed Description
Progressive weight gain that starts in the fourth and fifth decades is commonly reported by
women from all ethnic and socio-economic groups. Our previous data suggest that, in large
and diverse subpopulations of healthy-appearing women this midlife weight gain may represent
the earliest clinical manifestation of insulin resistance - demarcated by increased insulin
response curves in the presence of completely normal glucose tolerance tests. We termed the
disorder Syndrome W to highlight its defining triad of weight gain, waist gain and
white-coat hypertension in women and its role as an alphabetic and chronologic antecedent to
the better known Syndrome X. As in other disorders of insulin action in younger women,
including Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), early adrenarche, and precocious puberty,
Syndrome W is, presumably, a harbinger of The Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 diabetes at an
early and optimal period for intervention.

Preliminary data from our first pilot study suggested that metformin, in combination with a
hypocaloric, low-fat, carbohydrate modified dietary program produced significant and
sustainable weight loss in women with Syndrome W, with notable reductions in fasting insulin
levels. These findings supported hypotheses that insulin elevation might be an antecedent,
as well as a consequence, of weight gain, accounting for a progressive and intractable
weight spiral as women transition from their forties to their sixties. Additional two to
four year follow-up in an intention-to-treat analysis of consecutive women who lost ≥10% of
their body weight after one year of the treatment regimen further suggests that this
composite intervention prevents weight regain and the onset of overt glucose impairment. The
protocol evolved from evaluation and treatment of several hundred patients seen in The
Endocrine Faculty Practice over a ten year period and has been highly successful in a broad
ethnic range of normo-glycemic, hyperinsulinemic subjects. These include midlife women with
weight gain and overweight men with upper body obesity - populations which have not been
comparably treated in prior studies which focus predominantly on subjects with discernible
glycemic abnormalities. The magnitude and duration of the treatment effect suggest that
more rigorous study should be undertaken with a randomized clinical trial.

PPAR agonists including thiazolidinediones (TZD's) are a newer category of insulin
sensitizers with increasingly wide and well-studied positive attributes, including
redistribution of fat depots, increased adiponectin secretion, and reduction of inflammatory
and proinflammatory markers.

The combination of metformin and rosiglitazone (Avandamet®) is FDA-approved for the
treatment of hyperglycemia in patients with Type 2 diabetes. Previous clinical research and
recent laboratory data suggest that the two categories of insulin sensitizers have
independent and additive mechanisms of action that could target and, ultimately, modulate
the underlying pathogenesis of insulin resistance.

Comparison studies suggest that TZD's may have a greater insulin sensitizing action and
provide greater reduction in hyperinsulinemia than metformin. However, due to increased
adipocyte expression (and possible other mechanisms), weight gain is a common and
undesirable side effect of TZD treatment. The addition of metformin to rosiglitazone, along
with dietary strategies that reduce endogenous insulin production could prove an ideal
therapeutic option to attenuate insulin resistance and preserve ß-cell function in high risk
individuals. Early initiation of this dual regimen in normoglycemic subjects with documented
hyperinsulinemia could have profound implications for Syndrome W women and for an additional
25% of the adult US population estimated to have other manifestations of The Metabolic
Syndrome.

The primary study question addressed is whether dual treatment regimens which modulate
insulin action can reduce hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance in high risk, but
healthy-appearing normoglycemic, hyperinsulinemic subjects identified because of
progressive, intractable, midlife weight gain
Study TypeInterventional
Study PhasePhase 2
Study DesignAllocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Treatment
Condition
  • Hyperinsulinemia
  • Insulin Resistance
  • Obesity
InterventionDrug: metformin and rosiglitazone
4 week dosage escalation of metformin, 500 mg/day (or placebo) to a total dose of 2000mg/day; starting dose of rosiglitazone 2mg/day(or placebo) added at weeks 3 and weeks 4 to a a total dose of 4 mg/day
Other Names:
  • glucophage
  • avandia
  • avandamet
Study Arm (s)
  • Placebo Comparator: A: Study diet
    EMPOWIR dietary intervention food exchange program; 40-45% carbohydrates, 35-40% protein, and 20% fat AND 4 week dosage escalation of placebo metformin, 500 mg/day to a total dose of 2000mg/day; starting dose of placebo rosiglitazone 2mg/day added at weeks 3 and weeks 4 to a total dose of 4 mg/day.
  • Active Comparator: B: Study diet plus Metformin
    Metformin and Rosiglitazone Placebo
    EMPOWIR dietary intervention food exchange program; 40-45% carbohydrates, 35-40% protein, and 20% fat AND 4 week dosage escalation of metformin, 500 mg/day to a total dose of 2000mg/day; starting dose of placebo rosiglitazone 2mg/day added at weeks 3 and weeks 4 to a total dose of 4 mg/day.
  • Active Comparator: C: Study diet plus metformin and avandia
    Metformin and Rosiglitazone
    EMPOWIR dietary intervention food exchange program; 40-45% carbohydrates, 35-40% protein, and 20% fat AND 4 week dosage escalation of metformin, 500 mg/day to a total dose of 2000mg/day; starting dose of rosiglitazone 2mg/day added at weeks 3 and weeks 4 to a total dose of 4 mg/day.

Recruitment Information[ + expand ][ + ]

Recruitment StatusCompleted
Estimated Enrollment46
Estimated Completion DateJanuary 2011
Estimated Primary Completion DateJanuary 2011
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:

1. Healthy, non-diabetic women with "≥20 pound weight gain since their twenties"

2. Age: 35-55

3. Peri-menopausal or postmenopausal status

4. Body Mass Index (BMI) 25-35 kg/m2

5. Either:

1. a single blood pressure recording ≥135/85 or the use of blood pressure
medication OR

2. HDL≤50mg/dl or triglycerides ≥150 mg/dl or the use of lipid modifying medication

6. Area-under-the-curve (AUC-)insulin level>100mcgU/ml along with normal fasting (≤100
mg/dl) & postprandial ((≤200 mg/dl) glucose determinations following a 75-gram
standard oral glucose tolerance test.

-

Exclusion Criteria:

1. known diabetes, fasting blood sugar ≥100 mg/dl or HbA-1-C≥6.0%

2. known hepatic disease or ALT>40

3. known renal disease or creatinine ≥ 1.4

4. known severe pulmonary disease

5. chronic acidosis of any etiology

6. Congestive heart failure (NYS Category 1), treated or untreated

7. Cancer - active within 5 years

8. current alcoholism or other substance abuse

9. co-morbid psychiatric disorder, which in the opinion of the screening physician would
require concomitant psychotherapy as part of obesity management

10. currently untreated thyroid abnormality (TSH≤0.2 or ≥4mIU/L)

11. pregnancy or contemplation of pregnancy

12. use of TZD or metformin within the past year

13. allergy to TZD or biguanide

14. use of FDA approved or alternate obesity agent within 6 months of the study

15. history of pseudotumor cerebri

16. other impairment, such as a history of medication noncompliance, which in the
judgment of the screening clinician, would preclude active study participation.

17. history of known or suspected heart disease
GenderFemale
Ages35 Years
Accepts Healthy VolunteersAccepts Healthy Volunteers
ContactsNot Provided
Location CountriesUnited States

Administrative Information[ + expand ][ + ]

NCT Number NCT00618072
Other Study ID NumbersGSK-109157
Has Data Monitoring CommitteeYes
Information Provided ByNew York Medical College
Study SponsorNew York Medical College
CollaboratorsAlbert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
University of Tennessee
Investigators Principal Investigator: Harriette R Mogul, MD MPH New York Medical College
Verification DateMarch 2014

Locations[ + expand ][ + ]

Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, New York, United States, 10461