ArticleJournal of pediatric endocrinology & metabolism : JPEM2014
Effects of metformin in children and adolescents with Prader-Willi syndrome and early-onset morbid obesity: a pilot study.
Article in Journal of pediatric endocrinology & metabolism : JPEM, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multidimensional Characterisation of Eating Behaviour in Genetic Obesity: A Systematic Review.Obesity facts · 2026Pooled it
- Hyperphagia in rare melanocortin-4 receptor pathway diseases: therapeutic options and assessing treatment response.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Case report: Tirzepatide-responsive refractory diabetes mellitus in an adult female with prader-willi syndrome.Medicine · 2026Article
- Efficacy and safety of semaglutide for obesity and hyperphagia in adults with Prader-Willi syndrome.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Observational
- Management of Hyperphagia and Obesity in Prader-Willi Syndrome.Ewha medical journal · 2023Review
- Updates on Obesity in Prader-Willi Syndrome: From Genetics to Management.Ewha medical journal · 2023Review
- Prader-Willi Syndrome and Weight Gain Control: From Prevention to Surgery-A Narrative Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Prader-Willi Syndrome in Adults: An Update On Nutritional Treatment and Pharmacological Approach.Current obesity reports · 2022Review
- Review
- Hypothalamic syndrome.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2022Review
- Management of Prader-Labhart-Willi syndrome in children and in adults, with particular emphasis on the treatment with recombinant human growth hormone.Pediatric endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism · 2022Review
- Obesity in Prader-Willi syndrome: physiopathological mechanisms, nutritional and pharmacological approaches.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2021Review
- Anti-Obesity Medication Use in Children and Adolescents with Prader-Willi Syndrome: Case Review and Literature Search.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Update on Diabetes Mellitus and Glucose Metabolism Alterations in Prader-Willi Syndrome.Current diabetes reports · 2020Review
- A multidisciplinary approach to the clinical management of Prader-Willi syndrome.Molecular genetics & genomic medicine · 2019Article
- Obesity management in Prader-Willi syndrome: current perspectives.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2018Review
- Review of Prader-Willi syndrome: the endocrine approach.Translational pediatrics · 2017Review
- The neurobiology of the Prader-Willi phenotype of fragile X syndrome.Intractable & rare diseases research · 2016Review
- Metformin improves anxiety-like behaviors through AMPK-dependent regulation of autophagy following transient forebrain ischemia.Metabolic brain disease · 2015Article
- The therapy of insulin resistance in other diseases besides type 2 diabetes.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2014Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is one of the most commonly recognized causes of early-onset childhood obesity. Individuals with PWS have significant hyperphagia and decreased recognition of satiety. The exact etiology of the hyperphagia remains unknown and, therefore, untreatable. We conducted a pilot, open-label study of response to metformin in 21 children with PWS and six with early morbid obesity (EMO). Participants had significant insulin resistance and glucose intolerance on oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) and were started on metformin for these biochemical findings. We administered the Hyperphagia Questionnaire to parents of patients before and after starting metformin treatment. Both the PWS and EMO groups showed significant improvements in food-related distress, anxiety, and ability to be redirected away from food on the Hyperphagia Questionnaire. In the PWS group, improvements were predominantly seen in females. Within the PWS group, responders to metformin had higher 2-h glucose levels on OGTT (7.48 mmol/L vs. 4.235 mmol/L; p=0.003) and higher fasting insulin levels (116 pmol/L vs. 53.5 pmol/L; p=0.04). Additionally, parents of 5/13 individuals with PWS and 5/6 with EMO reported that their child was able to feel full while on metformin (for many this was the first time they had ever described a feeling of fullness). Metformin may improve sense of satiety and decrease anxiety about food in some individuals with PWS and EMO. Positive response to metformin may depend on the degree of hyperinsulinism and glucose intolerance. Nonetheless, the results of this pilot study bear further investigation.
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