Conditions: NAFLD
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 91
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The goal of this study is to determine if NS-0200 can reduce the amount of liver fat in patients diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study will compare two doses of NS-0200 to placebo in NAFLD patients.

Detailed description:
This is a randomized, 16-week, placebo-controlled, double-blind study to evaluate the effect of two fixed-dose combinations of leucine, metformin and sildenafil, NS-0200 compared to placebo, on the reduction of liver fat in patients diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Subjects meeting all the inclusion criteria and no exclusion criteria will be randomized to one of three study arms.

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the change in hepatic fat content assessed by proton-density-fat-fraction (PDFF) employing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in subjects from : Screening/Visit 2 (Day-7/Week-1) to Study Termination/Visit 8 (Day 112/Week 16) receiving two fixed-dose combinations of leucine, metformin and sildenafil compared to placebo. Secondary objectives will also assess changes in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity, change in circulating cytokeratin 18, a surrogate marker of necro-inflammation, change in HbA1c, change in fasting glucose, insulin and insulin sensitivity, change in blood lipids such as cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, and changes in in C-reactive protein. In addition this study will evaluate the safety and tolerability of NS-0200.

Patients will have two screening visits, the first to determine their eligibility based on lab tests and the second based on the percentage of hepatic fat assessed by MRI imaging. Once qualified, patients will be randomly assigned to either one of the treatment groups or the placebo control group and monitored for a total of 16 weeks. Patients will return to the clinic each month for lab tests, and routine examinations. At the conclusion of the treatment period patients will again undergo an MRI scan to examine the percentage of hepatic fat.

Arms:
arm 1: Leu-Met-Sil 0.5: 3 capsules BID consisting of 2 capsules containing 550 mg L-leucine each and 1 capsule containing 500 mg metformin and 0.5 mg of sildenafil. arm 2: Leu-Met-Sil 1.0: 3 capsules BID consisting of 2 capsules containing 550 mg L-leucine each and 1 capsule containing 500 mg metformin and 1.0 mg of sildenafil. arm 3: Placebo: 3 capsules BID containing 99% Avicel PH302 and 1% magnesium stearate (w/w)

Interventions: intervention 1: Leu-Met-Sil 0.5 intervention 2: Leu-Met-Sil 1.0 intervention 3: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: NS-0200 low dose intervention 2: NS-200 high dose intervention 3: Placebo

Protocol document: