ArticlePloS one2014
Metformin and berberine prevent olanzapine-induced weight gain in rats.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02983188 (A Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled Trial of Berberine as an Adjuvant to Treat Antipsychotic-induced Metabolic Syndrome in Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders), which is not on this map. Cited by 42 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled Trial of Berberine as an Adjuvant to Treat Antipsychotic-induced Metabolic Syndrome in Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 77 citations in OpenAlex.
- Berberine and health outcomes: an overview of systematic reviews.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Pooled it
- Adjunctive metformin for antipsychotic-induced dyslipidemia: a meta-analysis of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials.Translational psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Anticancer effect of berberine based on experimental animal models of various cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC cancer · 2019Pooled it
- A pumpless liver-adipose model for studying metabolic dysfunction and drug responses.PloS one · 2026Article
- Natural Compounds and Their Potential in Eating-Related Aspects of Mental Health Disorders.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Olanzapine-induced metabolic syndrome is partially mediated by oxytocinergic system dysfunction in female Sprague-Dawley rats.PloS one · 2025Article
- Review
- Article
- Olanzapine, risperidone and ziprasidone differently affect lysosomal function and autophagy, reflecting their different metabolic risk in patients.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
- Longitudinal Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis Underlies Olanzapine-Induced Weight Gain.Microbiology spectrum · 2023Article
- The development and benefits of metformin in various diseases.Frontiers of medicine · 2023Review
- Anti-Obesity Effects of Metformin: A Scoping Review Evaluating the Feasibility of Brown Adipose Tissue as a Therapeutic Target.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Clinical significance of microbiota changes under the influence of psychotropic drugs. An updated narrative review.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Review
- The Case for Clinical Trials with Novel GABAergic Drugs in Diabetes Mellitus and Obesity.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Berberine, a Herbal Metabolite in the Metabolic Syndrome: The Risk Factors, Course, and Consequences of the Disease.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- The role of hypothalamic endoplasmic reticulum stress in schizophrenia and antipsychotic-induced weight gain: A narrative review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Review
- Metformin ameliorates olanzapine-induced obesity and glucose intolerance by regulating hypothalamic inflammation and microglial activation in female mice.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Anthocyanins fromMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Beneficial effect ofJournal of diabetes and metabolic disorders · 2021Article
- Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Post-Stroke Metformin Treatment Using Permanent Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Rats.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Olanzapine is a first line medication for the treatment of schizophrenia, but it is also one of the atypical antipsychotics carrying the highest risk of weight gain. Metformin was reported to produce significant attenuation of antipsychotic-induced weight gain in patients, while the study of preventing olanzapine-induced weight gain in an animal model is absent. Berberine, an herbal alkaloid, was shown in our previous studies to prevent fat accumulation in vitro and in vivo. Utilizing a well-replicated rat model of olanzapine-induced weight gain, here we demonstrated that two weeks of metformin or berberine treatment significantly prevented the olanzapine-induced weight gain and white fat accumulation. Neither metformin nor berberine treatment demonstrated a significant inhibition of olanzapine-increased food intake. But interestingly, a significant loss of brown adipose tissue caused by olanzapine treatment was prevented by the addition of metformin or berberine. Our gene expression analysis also demonstrated that the weight gain prevention efficacy of metformin or berberine treatment was associated with changes in the expression of multiple key genes controlling energy expenditure. This study not only demonstrates a significant preventive efficacy of metformin and berberine treatment on olanzapine-induced weight gain in rats, but also suggests a potential mechanism of action for preventing olanzapine-reduced energy expenditure.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.