Could a common gout pill help Veterans' failing hearts?
NCT ID NCT04551222
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Sep 15, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study tested whether probenecid, a medicine usually used for gout, can improve heart function and exercise ability in veterans with heart failure. About 99 veterans with a specific type of heart failure took probenecid twice daily for 180 days. Researchers measured changes in heart function using ultrasound and exercise tests to see if the drug helps manage the condition.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2/3
Runs two stages together: whether the treatment works, then large-scale confirmation.
- Participants
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125 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jun 2021
- Finished
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Dec 2025
- Lead sponsor
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A government agency
The lead sponsor is a US federal agency other than the NIH.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Have documented heart failure as a treated inpatient or outpatient diagnosis in the medical record. * Left ventricular ejection 40% within the past 12 months either by echocardiogram, cardiac MRI, cardiac CT, nuclear imaging or cardiac catheterization. NYHA class II-III * On stable GDMT for at least 2 weeks (including at least an EBM dose of betablocker and RAAS inhibition) consistent with the EPHESUS trial criteria \[16\] or having a documented allergy or adverse reaction to betablocker and/or RAAS inhibition. * Age 18 years or older. Exclusion Criteria: * Acute coronary syndrome or cardiac revascularization within the past 3 months. * End stage renal disease with renal replacement therapy or creatinine clearance less than 30 ml/min \[17\]. * Cardiac resynchronization therapy within the past 3 months. * Constrictive pericarditis or restrictive cardiomyopathy on cardiac imaging study (echocardiogram cardiac MRI, cardiac CT) within the last 12 months. * Ablation for cardiac arrhythmias within the past month. * Peripartum cardiomyopathy diagnosed within past 6 months. If LVEF is still 40% after 6 months of diagnosis, they can be enrolled into the study. * Uncorrected cyanotic congenital heart disease. * Severe right sided valvular disease and/or greater than moderate degree of stenotic or regurgitant left valvular disease. * Terminal illness with expected survival of less than 12 months. * Women who are pregnant, breast feeding, or plan to become pregnant during the study. All women in childbearing age will undergo baseline and quarterly urine pregnancy tests to ensure absence of pregnancy since the cardiometabolic assessments will be different during pregnancy. * Oral therapy with probenecid for any indication during the preceding 3 months. * Hypersensitivity to probenecid based on prior exposure. * Inability to provide informed consent or study procedures due to dementia, unstable psychiatric disease, or other cause (e.g. inability to do perform exercise testing). * Acute gout attack within the previous 3 months. * History of uric acid kidney stones within the last year. Patient will be removed from the study if they develop urate kidney stones. * History of blood diseases in the past year: Aplastic anemia, Hemolytic anemia, Leukopenia, Neutropenia, Pancytopenia, Thrombocytopenia or leukemia. * Creatinine clearance (eGFR) \<30 ml/min.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Cincinnati VA Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati, Ohio, 45220-2213, United States
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Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center, Richmond, VA
Richmond, Virginia, 23249-0001, United States
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Louis Stokes VA Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
Cleveland, Ohio, 44106-1702, United States
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Providence VA Medical Center, Providence, RI
Providence, Rhode Island, 02908-4734, United States
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VA Boston Healthcare System Jamaica Plain Campus, Jamaica Plain, MA
Boston, Massachusetts, 02130-4817, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Can a smartphone app keep heart failure patients out of the hospital?
- Can better training get doctors to talk about what matters most to dying veterans?
- Can AI read heart ultrasounds as well as trained sonographers?