An interventional study of Colchicine and Eplerenone in Coronary Heart Disease and Inflammation, sponsored by Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-12.
Sponsored by Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Among 222 studies in Coronary Disease with a site in China — 67 open to participants now, 76 under way, 2 of them phase 3. Coronary Disease · China.
Among the 222 studies in Coronary Disease with a site in China, this one is the 59th largest by planned enrollment of the 140 interventional ones that give a count, is one of 15 that started in 2026, is one of 86 with no phase, reaches primary completion later than 50 of the 75 other live ones, and was the 222nd registered.
1,521 studies on the registry are indexed under Coronary Disease; 167 are open to participants now.
Browse Coronary Disease studies →67 of the 222 studies in Coronary Disease with a site in China are open now. Recruiting first, the newest first:
China National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases · Sites in China
Ages 18+
Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University · Sites in China
Gan Lijun · Sites in China
Ages 18+
Xia Liang · Sites in China
Ages 50–75
China National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases · Sites in China
Ages 18+
A study can be open while its sites in China have not opened yet or have stopped. Only those recruiting at a site in China →
Of the 106 Coronary Disease studies recruiting now, 64 (60%) set no upper age limit and 19 (18%) stop at 75 or younger; 8 take children under 18; 10 take healthy volunteers.
This study: 18 Years and older · all sexes · no healthy volunteers.
The full table on the hub →This tab as a report to print or save as PDF → With an account.
222 studies; the count open now beside each. This study's row is marked.
A study in two phases is counted once above. Listed by phase, each with its combined phases: Phase 1 5 · Phase 2 9 · Phase 3 9 · Phase 4 34
First in 1999; this study’s year is marked. 15 started in 2026.
By drug class, each counting the studies that test any of its medicines:
This study's planned enrollment of 250 is above the median of 160 across 778 interventional studies indexed under Coronary Disease.
Median enrollment 220 across the 140 interventional studies, 1,508 across the 82 observational. Of the 75 that completed or were terminated, 11 (15%) have results posted.
This tab as a report to print or save as PDF → With an account.
30 of 222 have an industry lead sponsor. The 10 most frequent:
Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology is the lead sponsor of 182 studies on the registry; 145 are open to participants now.
Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology has 2 studies filed under Coronary Disease — fewer than ten, so there is no comparison to draw.
22 of the studies in Coronary Disease with a site in China that are under way reach primary completion within a year, 2 of them phase 3. Phase 3 first, then by date:
| Study | Primary completion |
|---|---|
| NCT05997693Phase 3Weill Medical College of Cornell UniversityOne-Month DAPT in CABG Patients | 2027-01 |
| NCT06472908Phase 3Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyEfficacy and Safety of Colchicine After PCI | 2027-06-30 |
| NCT07259278China National Center for Cardiovascular DiseasesIntelligent Management Platform for Guiding Exercise Rehabilitation in Coronary Heart Disease Patients | 2026-11-30 |
| NCT07841275China Academy of Chinese Medical SciencesReal-World Effectiveness and Costs of Yiqi Fumai Lyophilized Injection in Coronary Heart Disease-Related Chronic Heart Failure | 2026-12 |
| NCT05397392Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical UniversityResearch on Optimal Diagnosis and Treatment of Cardiorenal Syndrome | 2026-12 |
Add all 22 to your calendar (.ics) → With an account.
Among the 222 studies in Coronary Disease with a site in China, from their registry updates:
This tab as a report to print or save as PDF → With an account.
Residual inflammatory risk remains a major contributor to adverse cardiovascular outcomes despite guideline-directed therapy. Although colchicine reduces cardiovascular events, its anti-inflammatory effects may extend beyond NLRP3 inhibition to involve AIM2 inflammasome suppression. We hypothesized that dual NLRP3/AIM2 inhibition may provide an effective strategy for targeting residual inflammatory risk. Using molecular docking and a THP-1 cell-based dual-inflammasome model, we screened approved drugs and identified leflunomide, eplerenone, and artesunate as candidate agents with greater IL-1β inhibitory activity than colchicine at clinically relevant concentrations. These findings highlight dual inflammasome inhibition as a potential therapeutic strategy for coronary heart disease.
Despite advances in contemporary preventive and therapeutic strategies, coronary heart disease (CHD) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Residual inflammatory risk (RIR) persists in a substantial proportion of patients despite guideline-directed medical therapy and contributes to recurrent cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, stroke, and cardiovascular death. Accumulating evidence has established inflammation as a key driver of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, highlighting the need for targeted anti-inflammatory therapies to address this unmet clinical need. Notably, two large-scale randomized controlled trials, COLCOT and LoDoCo2, demonstrated that low-dose colchicine reduces cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease, providing compelling clinical evidence for the therapeutic potential of targeting inflammation. These findings subsequently led to the approval of colchicine by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the reduction of cardiovascular risk in adults with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
The anti-inflammatory effects of colchicine are thought to involve the disruption of microtubule dynamics and the suppression of NLRP3 inflammasome activation, thereby attenuating downstream interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 signaling and reducing high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels. Among the inflammasomes implicated in cardiovascular diseases, NLRP3 and AIM2 have emerged as important contributors to inflammatory signaling in atherosclerotic disease. However, whether effective attenuation of residual inflammatory risk requires simultaneous targeting of multiple inflammasome pathways remains unclear. In our previous studies, we evaluated three pharmacological inhibitors of the NLRP3 inflammasome in patients with CHD. Notably, only colchicine, a nonselective inhibitor of NLRP3 inflammasome activation, significantly reduced hsCRP levels, whereas the more selective NLRP3 inhibitors tranilast and oridonin did not produce a comparable effect. Given that colchicine can also suppress AIM2 inflammasome activation, these findings raise the possibility that its clinical anti-inflammatory efficacy may extend beyond NLRP3 inhibition. We therefore hypothesized that concomitant inhibition of the NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes may represent a more effective therapeutic strategy for mitigating residual inflammatory risk in patients with CHD.
To explore this hypothesis and identify clinically available therapeutic alternatives, we performed an integrated drug-repurposing strategy combining molecular docking-based virtual screening with functional validation in a THP-1 cell-based model of dual NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasome activation. By integrating inhibitory efficacy against both inflammasome pathways with clinically achievable plasma drug concentrations, we identified the candidate drugs with IL-1β inhibitory activity exceeding that of colchicine: leflunomide, eplerenone, and artesunate. These findings provide a rationale for further investigating dual inflammasome inhibition as a potential therapeutic approach to targeting residual inflammatory risk in CHD.
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.
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
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.
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
CYP3A is a group of enzymes, mainly CYP3A4, in the liver and gut that break down many medicines. Some medicines, supplements and foods (grapefruit, St John’s wort) slow them down or speed them up, which changes how much of a study drug stays in the body.
Studies list them so they can be avoided or switched; bring a list of everything you take, including supplements.
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.
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hypersensitivity
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ALT and AST (liver enzymes)
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ULN (upper limit of normal)
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Platelets
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hemoglobin (Hb)
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
CYP3A (CYP3A4) inhibitors and inducers
CYP3A is a group of enzymes, mainly CYP3A4, in the liver and gut that break down many medicines. Some medicines, supplements and foods (grapefruit, St John’s wort) slow them down or speed them up, which changes how much of a study drug stays in the body.
Studies list them so they can be avoided or switched; bring a list of everything you take, including supplements.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraception
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Standard treatment for coronary heart disease
Colchicine+standard treatment for coronary heart disease
Drug: Colchicine
Eplerenone+standard treatment for coronary heart disease
Drug: Eplerenone
Leflunomide+standard treatment for coronary heart disease
Drug: Leflunomide
Artesunate+standard treatment for coronary heart disease
Drug: Artesunate
Colchicine 0.5mg PO Qd
Eplerenone 50mg PO Qd
Leflunomide 10mg PO Qd
Artesunate 50mg PO Bid
The change in hsCRP
The change in hsCRP compared to baseline
Time frame: 4 weeks
Major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event (MACCE)
Composite endpoint of all cause death, non fatal myocardial infarction, non fatal stroke, and revascularization due to ischemia
Time frame: 4 weeks
Plasma OLINK proteomics detection
The change in plasma OLINK proteomics
Time frame: 4 weeks
Peripheral blood mononuclear cell mass spectrometry proteomics detection
The change in peripheral blood mononuclear cell mass spectrometry proteomics
Time frame: 4 weeks
Blood drug concentration
Blood drug concentration in different interventions
Time frame: 4 weeks
Plan to share: No
Start is estimated for Nov 2026; primary completion for Feb 2027, 3 months later.
Of 178 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Coronary Disease, half reached primary completion within 26 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 15 and three quarters within 51. This study's planned 3 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 200 studies reached it within 25 months; a quarter within 14 and three quarters within 51.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Nov 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology →