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Testing whether a commonly used drug to treat Diabetes can reduce injury to the lung following heart surgery and in critical illness.

Metformin to reduce pulmonary INjury and systemic Inflammation after Coronary Artery Bypass surgery? (MINICAB)

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ISRCTN
Registry ID
ISRCTN13139487
Enrollment
56
Registered
2025-12-24
Start date
2026-02-09
Completion date
Unknown
Last updated
2026-01-05

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, post-operative coronary artery bypass graft patients Respiratory

Interventions

Patients will be randomised 1:1 to either a standard care arm or treatment (metformin arm) using the sealed envelope platform. In the treatment arm of the trial, patients will receive a total of 14 da

Sponsors

Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
Lead Sponsor

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 110 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Adult patients =18 years of age undergoing elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Age 3x upper limit of normal 8. Patients with known mitochondrial disorders 9. Inability to take oral medication pre-operatively 10. Known hypersensitivity or intolerance to the study medication 11. Lack of capacity to consent to trial

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frame
Plasma RAGE measured using ELISA from baseline to immediately post cardiopulmonary bypass (RAGEimmediately post bypass – RAGEimmediately pre bypass)

Secondary

MeasureTime frame
At baseline and post-operative timepoints unless noted: 1. Inflammation 1.1. Total and differential white blood cell count and plasma NETs (neutrophil extracellular traps) measured using automated hematology analyser 1.2. Plasma markers of inflammation - CRP, TNFa, sTNFR, IL-6, IL-8, IL-18, IL-1Ra measured using immunoassay 2. Markers of organ or cell injury 2.1. Type I alveolar epithelial cell dysfunction – In addition to the timepoints for the primary outcome, plasma RAGE will be taken using ELISA at 24, 48 and 72 hours. 2.2. Type II alveolar epithelial cell dysfunction – measured by plasma SP-D measured using ELISA 2.3. Endothelial dysfunction – plasma vWF, Ang2 measured using ELISA 2.4. Urinary markers of injury – NGAL, Albumin: Creatinine ratio measured using ELISA Additional outcomes: 3. Mechanistic effects of metformin 3.1. Anti-inflammatory: a. PBMC AMPK phosphorylation from PBMCs +/- LPS ex vivo stimulation b. PBMC NFkB in PBMCs +/- LPS ex vivo stimulation c. PBMC inflammasome activation in PBMC +/- LPS ex vivo stimulation; including ASC speck formation, flow cytometry, IL-1beta/IL-18/LDH, caspase 1, gasdermin and other inflammasome markers. d. GDF 15 3.2. Mitochondrial modulation a. Blood mtDNA b. PBMC Mitophagy markers (PNIK1, PARKIN, MFN2, NIX, LC3-II, LAMP2) on lysates from PBMC +/- ex vivo LPS stimulation 3.3. Blood transcriptome 3.4. Blood epigenome 3.5. Muscle transcriptome and muscle/plasma metabolome 4. Clinical outcomes: 4.1. Clinical outcomes will be recorded although it is recognised the study will not be powered for these. Outcomes include rate of post-operative pneumonia, rate of acute kidney injury; post-operative neurological dysfunction; rate of wound infection; prolonged ventilation (>24 hours after procedure); rate of re-operation on the same hospital admission; length of hospital stay; length of hospital stay; inpatient and 30 day mortality. 5. Muscle mass and strength: 5.1. Mid-thigh circumference and grip strength manometry will

Countries

United Kingdom

Contacts

Public ContactJonathan Strickland
jstrickland01@qub.ac.uk+44(0)7742132034

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026