Diabetes drug could improve heart failure treatment
NCT ID NCT04438213
First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This phase 2 trial at Yale University is testing whether the diabetes drug ertugliflozin can help people with chronic heart failure manage fluid buildup better than a standard diuretic (metolazone) or a placebo. Sixty adults on daily diuretics will take one of the three treatments for six weeks. Researchers will measure changes in blood volume and sodium excretion to see if ertugliflozin offers unique benefits without causing dehydration.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Ertugliflozin (a diabetes drug) and metolazone (a diuretic)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could show that ertugliflozin helps manage heart failure better than standard diuretics, with fewer side effects like dehydration.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-phase study (60 people) looking at short-term effects. It may not prove long-term benefit or safety, and results may not apply to all heart failure patients.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 60 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Mar 2021
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2025
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. A clinical diagnosis of chronic heart failure (either systolic or diastolic) 2. Chronic daily oral loop diuretic dose use 3. eGFR ≥20 mL/min/1.73 m2 4. English speaking participants only 5. Signed informed consent Exclusion Criteria: 1. Current use or plan to initiate renal replacement therapy or ultrafiltration 2. Significant bladder dysfunction or urinary incontinence 3. Inability to comply with the serial urine collection procedures 4. Current use of a thiazide or thiazide like diuretics or use within 5 half-lives of the drug, including metolazone 5. Current use of a SGLT-2 inhibitor, or in the treating provider's judgement, contraindication to be withdrawn from current use of an SGLT-2 inhibitor 6. Prior heart transplant, critical stenotic valvular disease or complex congenital heart 7. History of type 1 diabetes, diabetic ketoacidosis, "brittle" diabetes or frequent hypoglycemia or severe hypoglycemic episodes requiring emergent intervention (ER visit or EMS response, glucagon administration or forced oral carbs) in the last 3 months 8. History of or current urosepsis or frequent urinary tract infections 9. Anemia with hemoglobin \<8g/dL (due to required phlebotomy for the study) 10. Pregnancy or breastfeeding 11. Appears unlikely or unable to participate in the required study procedures, as assessed by the study PI, study coordinator, or designee (ex: clinically-significant psychiatric, addictive, or neurological disease) 12. Inability to give written informed consent or follow study protocol 13. Severe peripheral artery disease, previous amputation, or threatened amputation 14. Life expectancy \< 3 months
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Yale School of Medicine
RECRUITINGNew Haven, Connecticut, 06510, United States
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