ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT03329651Updated Nov 9, 2018

The Interaction Between Metformin and Acute Exercise

An interventional study of Metformin treatment and Placebo treatment in Impaired Glucose Tolerance and Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, sponsored by Kristian Karstoft. Completed at 1 site in Denmark. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 70 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-11-09.

Sponsored by Kristian Karstoft · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
34
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All
01

Where this study stands

Counted across the records on this site · 2026-11-12

Among 23 studies testing metformin in Glucose Intolerance — 2 open to participants now, 3 under way, none of them phase 3. Metformin · Glucose Intolerance.

Enrollment
14th of 22
34 · median 45
Started
2017
with 3 others
No phase
8 of 23
1 open now
Registered
17th of 23
by date
Lead sponsor
2 of 23
Kristian Karstoft

Among the 23 studies testing metformin in Glucose Intolerance, this one is the 14th largest by enrollment of the 22 interventional ones that give a count, is one of 4 that started in 2017, is one of 8 with no phase, and was the 17th registered.

Glucose Intolerance

793 studies on the registry are indexed under Glucose Intolerance; 115 are open to participants now.

Browse Glucose Intolerance studies →

Open to participants now

2 of the 23 studies testing metformin in Glucose Intolerance are open now, in 1 country. Recruiting first, the newest first:

By country, each count listing its studies:

All 2 open studies →

About metformin

Metformin: first FDA approval 1995 (GLUCOPHAGE), first EMA approval 2003. What it is approved for, and how studies give it, is on its page →

Who these studies take

Of the 70 Glucose Intolerance studies recruiting now, 14 (20%) set no upper age limit and 51 (73%) stop at 75 or younger; 10 take children under 18; 33 take healthy volunteers.

This study: 18 Years to 70 Years · all sexes · healthy volunteers too.

The full table on the hub →

This tab as a report to print or save as PDF → With an account.

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Watch this landscapeDownload CSVNarrow it in search →With an account: a weekly mail of what changed among 23 studies testing metformin in Glucose Intolerance, or all of them as a file.
02

Study summary

Physical activity is a first line treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), however, the vast majority of patients with T2D do not achieve satisfying glycemic control with physical activity alone, which is why pharmacological treatment with metformin is most often initiated.

It is known that metformin and exercise both activates 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in skeletal muscle and liver, and the activation of AMPK results in many different metabolic effects, including improvements in glycemic control. Because of this similarity in mechanism of action, an interaction between metformin and exercise is plausible, but knowledge in the area is sparse. Thus, the aim of this study is to assess the effects of acute physical activity with and without concomitant metformin treatment, in order to investigate whether an interaction between the two occur.

Subjects with impaired glucose tolerance will be randomized (1:1) to metformin/placebo treatment in a double-blinded way. Following a treatment run-in period of 17 days, two experimental days (one with acute exercise and one without acute exercise), separated by one week, will be performed in each subject.

This registration concerns a sub-study of another study which has previously been registrered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Unique Protocol ID: H-17012307). The specific outcomes in this registration have not previously been registered.

03

Conditions studied

  • Impaired Glucose Tolerance
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 70 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Glucose-lowering-medication naïve T2D and/or subjects with impaired glucose tolerance defined as: 2-h plasma glucose (PG) in the 75-g OGTT (7.8-11.0 mmol/L) and/or (39-47 mmol/mol)
  • Caucasian
  • > 25 but \< 40 kg/m2
  • Low to moderate physically active (≤90 min of structured physical activity/week)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnancy
  • Smoking
  • Glucose-lowering treatment
  • Treatment with and other immunomodulating drugs
  • to increased levels of physical activity
  • Liver disease (ALAT elevated more than 3 times above upper normal limit, or reduced levels of the liver function markers albumin and KF II+VII+X)
  • Renal insufficiency (\<60 ml/min)
  • Prior history of lactic acidosis
  • >55 mmol/mol and/or 2-hPG in the 75-g OGTT > 15 mmol/L
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(5)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

HbA1c

A blood test of average blood sugar over the past two to three months, given as a percentage or in mmol/mol. 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) or more is the usual threshold for diabetes, normally confirmed by a second test.

BMI (body mass index)

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.

What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)

GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².

Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator)
Enrollment
34 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Metformin treatment

    Drug: Metformin treatment

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo treatment

    Drug: Placebo treatment

Interventions

  • Daily treatment with metformin tablets for 24 days according to the following scheme: Day 1-4: Metformin tablet 500 mg x 2 Day 5-8: Metformin tablet 1000 + 500 mg Day 9-24: Metformin tablet 1000 mg x 2

  • DrugPlacebo treatment

    Daily treatment with placebo tablets for 24 days according to the following scheme: Day 1-4: Placebo tablet 500 mg x 2 Day 5-8: Placebo tablet 1000 + 500 mg Day 9-24: Placebo tablet 1000 mg x 2

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Difference in postprandial glycemic control as assessed by mean blood glucose concentration during a 4 hour mixed-meal tolerance test

    Time frame: Day 17 (no acute exercise [control day]) and 24 (following an acute exercise bout)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Difference in endogenous glucose production as assessed by rate of infused glucose tracer appearance in blood

    Time frame: Day 17 (no acute exercise [control day]) and 24 (following an acute exercise bout)

  2. Difference in exogenous glucose uptake as assessed by rate of ingested glucose tracer appearance in blood

    Time frame: Day 17 (no acute exercise [control day]) and 24 (following an acute exercise bout)

  3. Difference in peripheral glucose uptake as assessed by rate of glucose disappearance from blood

    Time frame: Day 17 (no acute exercise [control day]) and 24 (following an acute exercise bout)

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Center for aktiv sundhed
    Copenhagen, Copenhagen N 2200, Denmark
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Nov 2017 to primary completion in Jul 2018, 7 months.

Of 254 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Glucose Intolerance, half reached primary completion within 26 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 11 and three quarters within 44. This study's 7 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 286 studies reached it within 26 months; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 44.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Oct 30, 2017
First posted
Nov 6, 2017
StartActual
Nov 10, 2017
Primary completionActual
Jul 1, 2018
CompletionActual
Oct 1, 2018
Last update
Nov 9, 2018
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Nov 9, 2018, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03329651
Lead sponsor
Kristian Karstoft
Responsible party
Kristian Karstoft (Principal Investigator, Rigshospitalet, Denmark) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Nov 6, 2017
Start date
Nov 10, 2017
Primary completion
Jul 1, 2018
Completion
Oct 1, 2018
Last update
Nov 9, 2018

Study contacts

Kristian Karstoft, MD, PhD
principal investigator · Rigshospitalet, Denmark

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Nov 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Discussion

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Studies of the drug tested here: Metformin

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