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Metformin, a drug commonly used in the treatment of diabetes, could reverse the damaging thickening of the heart muscle that causes cardiovascular disease, according to a study from the University of Dundee.
Scientists led by Professor Chim Lang, head of the Molecular Medicine and Clinical Division at Dundee, discovered that metformin can be reused as a treatment for heart disease in non-diabetic patients.
The MET-REMODEL trial, published today in the prestigious European Heart Journal, has shown that metformin, used to treat type 2 diabetes safely for six decades, reduced left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in patients with pre-diabetes and pre-existing heart disease. LVH is the thickening of the muscle wall in the left pumping chamber of the heart and is a serious risk factor for future heart attack, stroke and heart failure.
The HVT is often a silent symptom and most people do not know that they suffer from it before suffering a heart attack or stroke. Large-scale studies have previously shown that patients with HBV were more exposed to adverse cardiovascular events and that a reduction in HVB could significantly reduce mortality rates.
Professor Lang said, "Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the world. We have already shown that metformin may have beneficial effects in patients with cardiovascular disease. This is the first time that one specifically examines the effects of metformin on unstable hypertension in patients with coronary artery disease in a clinical trial.
"The study involved treatment with prediabetic patients with coronary artery disease with metformin or placebo over a 12-month period to determine the effects of the drug on the cardiac muscle wall, using Advanced MRI.
"The main causes of HVV are high blood pressure, obesity and insulin resistance, which would also be key factors in coronary heart disease." Dangerous thickening of the ventricle left was reduced by twice more in patients taking metformin compared with placebo.
"We also found that metformin reduced blood pressure, oxidative stress, and weight loss – an average of 3.6 kg, compared to the lack of change in the placebo group. study is corroborated by a larger-scale study, metformin could offer hope for millions of patients around the world. "
The MET-REMODEL trial, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), is the first clinical trial in the world to show that metformin could reverse the harmful thickening of the heart muscle wall during the first six months. a clinical trial. The reuse of cheap and readily available drugs, such as metformin, to treat other health problems could potentially allow the NHS to save billions of pounds each year.
Mohapradeep Mohan, lead author and lead investigator of the MET-REMODEL trial, said that blood pressure medications were the standard treatment modalities of LVH, but that this approach was not particularly effective because HAV can also be present in patients with well-controlled blood pressure. This has highlighted the need for new treatment strategies in these patients.
"In this context, we need non-hypotensive drugs and we had good reason to believe that metformin should help reduce the thickening of the heart muscle wall," he said.
"The results of our study reinforce the notion that metformin could improve cardiovascular health, while improving the life expectancy of patients." From a clinical practice point of view, this drug is already approved and well tolerated. minimal side effects.
"If our results are corroborated by larger studies, the use of metformin to target LVH represents a new treatment option and a unique opportunity for faster clinical translation.We are grateful to BHF for funding the this study and extremely grateful to all participants in this study. "
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