Could a drug commonly used to treat diabetes help prevent Alzheimer’s disease? That’s the focus of an intriguing national study in which KU School of Medicine-Wichita is taking part.

The school’s KUMC Clinical & Translational Science Unit Wichita — formerly the Center for Clinical Research — is seeking participants for the study into the drug metformin. Hannah Hancock, the KUMC CTSU Wichita screening coordinator, said the study grew out of previous research into the drug.

“People who were on metformin were having decreased cognitive decline,” she said. “They’re looking to see if metformin is really the cause of that.”

Insulin resistance in a person, which can lead to diabetes, also plays a major role in the development of Alzheimer’s; 80% of people with Alzheimer’s have Type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s is sometimes now referred to as Type 3 diabetes. Metformin is widely prescribed to increase insulin sensitivity in people with Type 2 diabetes.

The MAP study (for Metformin in Alzheimer’s dementia Prevention) is based at New York’s Columbia University and involves 17 medical schools across the country. Brent Duran, D.O., associate professor in KU Wichita’s Department of Internal Medicine, is the principal investigator here.

For the study, KU Wichita is recruiting people who are 55 to 90 years old and have experienced mild cognitive impairment. “If somebody is experiencing changes in memory, that typically qualifies as MCI,” Hancock said.

Participants can’t have a history of diabetes. They will either be given metformin, which is taken orally daily, or a placebo. The study will last about two years. After an initial visit, participants will come in for three more examinations, one every six months. They will perform memory and thinking activities, have physical exams and blood draws, do monthly check-ins between visits and get an optional MRI of their brain. Participants are paid for each visit.

Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease that affects millions of people, most of them elderly, and there is no therapy known to reverse its progression. As a 2022 paper on the National Institutes for Health website concludes, “current evidence has mainly suggested a cognitive benefit of metformin among cognitive normal T2DM (Type 2 diabetes mellitis) patients while its cognitive effect on T2DM patients with AD seems negative.” The paper said large-scale trials are needed “to determine whether these effects can be generalized among population without T2DM.”

The KUMC CTSU Wichita is currently evaluating a handful of people to see if they qualify for the MAP study and would welcome more, Hancock said, adding: “I think it’s a super interesting study.”

How to participate

Go to the Map study website to take a short questionnaire to help determine whether you might qualify for the study.