ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT05726032EMPA LiverUpdated Sep 14, 2026

Empagliflozin in Patients With Cirrhosis and Ascites

A Phase 2 interventional study of Empagliflozin 10 MG and Matching Placebo in Cirrhosis and Liver Failure, sponsored by Yale University. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-14.

Primary conditionLiver FailureRegistry: FibrosisReclassifiedWhy we changed it
Registry
Fibrosis — the first condition term the registry derived for this study.
ClinicalTrials.gg
Liver Failure
Why
  1. Fibrosis is a broad heading, used only when no more specific condition is named.
  2. The study's listed conditions name Liver Failure.
Confidence
High: the new condition is named in the study's own listed conditions. Of 351 hand-checked studies reclassified this way, 68% were exactly right and 84% in the right disease family; the registry's first term was right for 5% (measured 2026-10-21). How we classify →
Wrong?
Tell us the study's main condition →

Sponsored by Yale University · Phase 2, Interventional, and Other

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Sep 2023; still recruiting 3 years 2 months later.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
20
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

A proof-of-concept placebo-controlled trial to explore the acute and 14-day effects of empagliflozin on natriuresis and total body water in patients with cirrhosis and ascites. We will additionally investigate its effect on neurohumoral activation, and renal hemodynamics.

02

Conditions studied

  • Cirrhosis
  • Liver Failure

Browse trials for

03

In context

Liver Failure Reclassified

190 studies on the registry are indexed under Liver Failure; 33 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 20 is below the median of 57 across 113 interventional studies indexed under Liver Failure.

Browse Liver Failure studies →

Lead sponsor

Yale University is the lead sponsor of 1,770 studies on the registry; 294 are open to participants now.

Of its 221 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 129 (58%) have results posted.

Compared within Liver Failure, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Fibrosis. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Patients with cirrhosis and ascites on a stable dose of diuretics (spironolactone +/- loop-diuretics based on AASLD guidelines)10 and who do not require large volume paracenteses
  2. >= 30mL/min/1.73 m2
  3. >=18 years old

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Hospitalization due to a complication of cirrhosis in the previous 8 weeks (e.g. variceal hemorrhage, encephalopathy, acute kidney injury, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis)
  2. Direct >=3 mg/dL
  3. Systolic blood pressure \< 100 mmHg
  4. Active including hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing treatment
  5. History of bladder dysfunction, incontinence, pyelonephritis, urosepsis, or frequent urinary tract infections
  6. Use of SGLT-2 inhibitors in the last 10 days, or previous use with intolerance
  7. Type 1 diabetes
  8. History of frequent hypoglycemic episodes
  9. Use of a non-loop diuretic aside from aldosterone antagonists or amiloride as they are not standard of care in patients with cirrhosis and could potentially increase the risk of hypovolemia when combined with the standard treatment for ascites along with SGLT2 inhibitor.
  10. Hepatic hydrothorax requiring thoracentesis in the prior 8 weeks
  11. Hepatic encephalopathy grade II or greater at the time of enrollment
  12. Patients who have had TIPS placed
  13. Previous liver transplant
  14. Participation in another trial with an drug within the 30 days prior to
  15. Pregnancy or breastfeeding
  16. Inability to give written informed consent or follow study protocol (e.g. clinically-significant psychiatric, addictive, or neurological disease)
  17. Change in diuretic dose in the prior 2 weeks
  18. Patients with hospitalization for alcoholic hepatitis in the past 6 months
  19. Significant worsening of creatinine (more than 50% increase) in the past 4 weeks
  20. MELD-Na > or equal to 20
  21. \<8
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(6)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)

GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².

Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.

Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Crossover assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator)
Enrollment
20 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Empagliflozin

    Empagliflozin vs placebo for 14 days, followed by 14 day washout period, before crossing over to the alternate drug.

    Drug: Empagliflozin 10 MG

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo

    Empagliflozin vs placebo for 14 days, followed by 14 day washout period, before crossing over to the alternate drug.

    Drug: Matching Placebo

Interventions

  • Participants will be randomized to Empagliflozin 10 mg or placebo for 14 days. A 14 day washout period follows and then participants is crossed over to the alternate treatment for 14 days.

  • DrugMatching Placebo

    Participants will be randomized to Empagliflozin 10 mg or placebo for 14 days. A 14 day washout period follows and then participants is crossed over to the alternate treatment for 14 days.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in FENa with administration of study drug (10 mg empagliflozin vs. identical placebo)

    Change in fractional excretion of sodium with administration of study drug (10 mg empagliflozin vs. identical placebo)

    Time frame: 14 days

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in renal blood flow before and after administration of study drug

    Change in renal blood flow (RBF) as determined by PAH clearance, before and after the acute administration of study drug ((RPF assessed using ancillary protocol on page 31)

    Time frame: Baseline to Hour 6

  2. Change in total renin, aldosterone, norepinephrine

    Change in total renin, aldosterone, norepinephrine before and after a 14-day course of study drug

    Time frame: 14 days

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 14, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05726032
Lead sponsor
Yale University
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Feb 13, 2023
Start date
Sep 11, 2023
Primary completion
Dec 1, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 1, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 14, 2026

Study contacts

Veena Rao, PHD
Contact
veena.s.rao@yale.edu
2037373571
Kara Otis
Contact
kara.otis@yale.edu
2037373571
Jeffrey Testani, MD
principal investigator · Yale University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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