ArticlePloS one2015
Metformin Ameliorates Inflammatory Bowel Disease by Suppression of the STAT3 Signaling Pathway and Regulation of the between Th17/Treg Balance.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 127 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
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Who cites it
127 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 221 citations in OpenAlex.
- The change of Th17/Treg cells and IL-10/IL-17 in Chinese children with Henoch-Schonlein purpura: A PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis.Medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Genetic Variants inDiabetes · 2018Trial
- Prioritizing Antidiabetic Drugs for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Through Inverse Signal Detection: A FAERS Pharmacovigilance Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Evaluation of the Intestinal Anti-Inflammatory Property ofPharmaceutics · 2026Article
- Bidirectional interplay between gut and liver in inflammatory bowel disease and hepatobiliary conditions.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2026Review
- Ulcerative colitis, pathophysiological mechanisms and drug repurposing: a new therapeutic dawn-narrative review.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Review
- Back to the Future: Repurposing Metformin, a Metabolically Active Drug, to Treat Mild-to-Moderate Ulcerative Colitis.Metabolites · 2026Review
- Therapeutic Potential of Tulisokibart and Anti-TL1A Therapy in Inflammatory Disorders: Current Insights and Future Directions.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2026Review
- Metabolic Disorders and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Unraveling Shared Pathways and Clinical Interactions.Metabolites · 2026Review
- Therapeutic impacts of oral anti-diabetic drugs on Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), a comprehensive review of clinical and preclinical studies.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Review
- Dysregulated immunometabolism in gut inflammation.Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica · 2026Review
- Fatty acid-related immune network in psoriasis: metabolic regulation of innate and adaptive immunity.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Regulatory T cells and peripheral immune tolerance: key mechanisms and therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular diseases.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- The central role of IL-6 in the differential effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists and metformin across multiple health conditions.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Metformin as a potential adjunct in the treatment of mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study.Internal and emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Cellular metabolism in Th9, Th17, and Treg cell differentiation.International immunology · 2025Review
- Decoding immunometabolism with next-generation tools: lessons from dendritic cells and T cells.The EMBO journal · 2025Review
- Obesity-Mediated Inflammation and Its Influence on Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Pathophysiology, Clinical Impact, and Therapeutic Implications.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Metformin prevents diabetes development in type 1 diabetes models via suppression of mTOR and STAT3 signaling in immune cells.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Metformin suppresses gammadelta T17 cell differentiation alleviating DSS-induced colitis.Immunologic research · 2025Article
67 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveMetformin is used to treat type 2 diabetes. We sought to determine whether metformin reduces inflammation, by regulating p-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) expression and T-helper 17 (Th17) cell proliferation, in a mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
methodsIBD mice were administered metformin for 16 days and their tissues were analyzed. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), p-STAT3 and p-STAT5 in the spleen and lymph nodes were detected using immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. Gene expression was determined using quantitative PCR assays, and protein expression levels were measured using western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Human HT-29 cell proliferation was evaluated using MTT assays.
resultsMetformin reduced disease activity index scores and inhibited weight loss. Metformin also decreased the colonic histological score and inflammatory mediators and increased colon lengths increased. Treatment with metformin inhibited the expression of interleukin (IL)-17, p-STAT3, and p-mTOR. In contrast, metformin treatment increased expression levels of p-AMPK and Foxp3. In addition, expression of inflammatory cytokines decreased in a dose-dependent manner in inflamed human HT-29 cells cultured with metformin at various concentrations.
conclusionsMetformin attenuates IBD severity and reduces inflammation through the inhibition of p-STAT3 and IL-17 expression. Our results have increased our understanding of this chronic inflammatory disease, and support the strategy of using p-STAT3 inhibitors to treat IBD.
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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.