ArticleNPJ aging and mechanisms of disease2017
Health benefits of late-onset metformin treatment every other week in mice.
Article in NPJ aging and mechanisms of disease, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interventions that prolong multidimensional healthspan in humans: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
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- Life-extending interventions do not necessarily result in compression of morbidity: a case example offering a robust statistical approach.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Liver, ageing and disease.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2025Review
- Rapamycin treatment for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: a pilot phase 1 clinical trial.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- BET inhibitors (BETi) influence oxidative phosphorylation metabolism by affecting mitochondrial dynamics leading to alterations in apoptotic pathways in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells.Cell proliferation · 2024Article
- Pharmacology of Aging:Aging biology · 2024Article
- Metformin treatment results in distinctive skeletal muscle mitochondrial remodeling in rats with different intrinsic aerobic capacities.Aging cell · 2024Article
- Kidney Aging and Chronic Kidney Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Delaying Renal Aging: Metformin Holds Promise as a Potential Treatment.Aging and disease · 2024Review
- From fasting to fat reshaping: exploring the molecular pathways of intermittent fasting-induced adipose tissue remodeling.Journal of pharmacy & pharmaceutical sciences : a publication of the Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Societe canadienne des sciences pharmaceutiques · 2024Review
- Metformin extends the chronological lifespan of fission yeast by altering energy metabolism and stress resistance capacity.FEMS yeast research · 2023Article
- The Role and Mechanism of Metformin in Inflammatory Diseases.Journal of inflammation research · 2023Review
- New horizons in life extension, healthspan extension and exceptional longevity.Age and ageing · 2022Article
- Are 50 years enough to prove the brilliant Dilman's idea?Oncotarget · 2022Article
- Metformin Treatment in Old Rats and Effects on Mitochondrial Integrity.Rejuvenation research · 2021Article
- A high fat, sugar, and salt Western diet induces motor-muscular and sensory dysfunctions and neurodegeneration in mice during aging: Ameliorative action of metformin.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2021Article
- Empirical versus theoretical power and type I error (false-positive) rates estimated from real murine aging research data.Cell reports · 2021Article
- Frailty and HIV: Moving from Characterization to Intervention.Current HIV/AIDS reports · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Chronic 1% metformin treatment is nephrotoxic in mice, but this dose may nonetheless confer health benefits if given intermittently rather than continuously. Here, we examined the effects of 1% metformin given every-other week (EOW) or two consecutive weeks per month (2WM) on survival of 2-year-old male mice fed standard chow. EOW and 2WM mice had comparable life span compared with control mice. A significant reduction in body weight within the first few weeks of metformin treatment was observed without impact on food consumption and energy expenditure. Moreover, there were differences in the action of metformin on metabolic markers between the EOW and 2WM groups, with EOW metformin conferring greater benefits. Age-associated kidney lesions became more pronounced with metformin, although without pathological consequences. In the liver, metformin treatment led to an overall reduction in steatosis and was accompanied by distinct transcriptomic and metabolomic signatures in response to EOW versus 2WM regimens. Thus, the absence of adverse outcomes associated with chronic, intermittent use of 1% metformin in old mice has clinical translatability into the biology of aging in humans.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.