Cleveland Clinic researchers have identified a common diabetes medication, metformin, as a possible treatment for atrial fibrillation.

The study, published in Cell Reports Medicine, built on ongoing collaborative Cleveland Clinic research to support further investigation into metformin as a drug repurposing candidate. Researchers used advanced computation and genetic sequencing to determine that metformin's targets overlap significantly with genes dysregulated in atrial fibrillation.

"Finding drugs or procedures to treat atrial fibrillation is difficult because of potential serious side effects," said Mina Chung, M.D., senior author of the study who is in Cleveland Clinic's Department of Cardiovascular Medicine in the Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute. "There is a significant need for new treatments for atrial fibrillation as there have been no new drugs approved in more than a decade."

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