Cardiometabolic Disease and Pulmonary Hypertension

December 21, 2021 updated by: Jennifer En-Sian Ho M.D., Massachusetts General Hospital

This study will investigate if metformin can help people with obesity and high pressures inside their lung blood vessels. Metformin is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat diabetes, but metformin is not approved by the FDA to treat pulmonary hypertension.

This study will examine whether Metformin will improve the high pressure inside lung blood vessels in people who are obese. The study will help understand the effect of metformin on pressures inside lung blood vessels.

Study Overview

Status

Terminated

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Obesity can predispose people to develop high pressures inside their lung blood vessels, a condition called pulmonary hypertension, Pulmonary hypertension in turn, can lead to shortness of breath and other health complications such as heart failure. In this study, we seek to identify individuals at risk for the development of high pressures inside lung vessels based on BMI and dyspnea grade 1.

Participants will be screened by echocardiography to estimate pulmonary pressures. Potential participants will undergo invasive cardiopulmonary exercise testing with hemodynamic monitoring, in order to identify individuals with abnormal pulmonary vascular function either at rest or during exercise. Patients who have undergone clinically-indicated cardiopulmonary exercise testing and meet inclusion/exclusion criteria will also be recruited. Those with abnormal pulmonary vascular function will be randomized to receive Metformin or placebo for a total of 3 months under an IND exemption. The primary outcomes include the effect on pulmonary vascular function at rest and during exercise. Secondary outcomes include change in pulmonary artery endothelial cell phenotypes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

21

Phase

  • Early Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02114
        • Massachusetts General Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

30 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 30-80 years
  • History of obesity and current BMI ≥ 25 kg/ m2 for study volunteers or BMI ≥ 25 kg/ m2 for those with clinically indicated CPET or known HFpEF
  • History of Dyspnea (Grade 1 or more)
  • Able to provide informed consent and willing to comply with study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of diabetes mellitus
  • History of primary pulmonary arterial hypertension
  • History of moderate to severe COPD
  • History of severe Obstructive Sleep apnea
  • History of renal disease (eGFR< 45 mL/min/1.732)
  • History of severe liver disease
  • History of cardiovascular disease (recent heart attack or stroke) except known HFpEF
  • History of blood clot in lung
  • History of Splenectomy
  • History of Active Cancer
  • Platelets count of < 75,000
  • International normalized ration (INR) of > 1.5
  • History of recent anemia (HB < 9g/dL)
  • Current use of Metformin
  • Prior LVEF < 50% on echocardiogram
  • Indication of severe valvular disease on echo
  • Pregnant or planning to become pregnant in next 4 months
  • History of HIV infection

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Metformin
Metformin: 500mg twice daily for 1 week, followed by 1g twice daily for a total of 3 months.
One capsule by mouth twice a day, followed by an increase to two capsules by mouth twice a day for a total of 3 months
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Placebo: 500 mgh twice daily for 1 week, followed by 1g twice daily for a total of 3 months.
One capsule by mouth twice a day, followed by an increase to two capsules by mouth twice a day for a total of 3 months

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pulmonary Vascular Hemodynamics (Rest)
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 months
The metformin and placebo groups will be compared with respect to resting mean pulmonary artery pressure (mmHg)
Baseline and 3 months
Pulmonary Vascular Hemodynamics (Exercise)
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 months
The metformin and placebo groups will be compared with respect to augmentation of mean pulmonary artery pressure divided by augmentation of cardiac output during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (change in mean PAP divided by change in cardiac output from rest to peak exercise)
Baseline and 3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Effect on Pulmonary Artery Endothelial Cell Phenotypes
Time Frame: baseline and 3 months

We will compare the metformin and placebo groups. Specifically we will examine the following pulmonary artery endothelial cell phenotypes:

(1) activation of phospho-eNOS as detected by immunofluorescence staining

baseline and 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jennifer E Ho, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

November 27, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 22, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

December 22, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 6, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 20, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

November 22, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 21, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 21, 2021

Last Verified

December 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2017P001020
  • 1R01HL134893-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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