ArticleNeurochemical research2018
Metformin Protects Against Spinal Cord Injury by Regulating Autophagy via the mTOR Signaling Pathway.
Article in Neurochemical research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 3 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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metformin's therapeutic potential in spinal cord injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis on locomotor recovery, neuropathic pain alleviation, and modulation of secondary injury mechanisms.Acta neurochirurgica · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of metformin on ameliorating neurological function deficits and tissue damage in rats following spinal cord injury: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of Metformin on Locomotor Function Recovery in Rat Spinal Cord Injury Model: A Meta-analysis.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2021Pooled it
- Regional Molecular Diversity in Chronic Spinal Cord Injury.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2026Article
- The neuroinflammatory triumvirate: NF-κB, NLRP3, and mTOR in spinal cord injury.Inflammopharmacology · 2025Review
- Novel mechanistic insights of the potential role of gasotransmitters and autophagy in the protective effect of metformin against hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Impact of commonly administered drugs on the progression of spinal cord injury: a systematic review.Communications medicine · 2024Article
- Metformin Improves Functional Outcomes, Activates Neural Precursor Cells, and Modulates Microglia in a Sex-Dependent Manner After Spinal Cord Injury.Stem cells translational medicine · 2023Article
- Targeting autophagy process in center nervous trauma.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
- MiR-30b-5p attenuates the inflammatory response and facilitates the functional recovery of spinal cord injury by targeting the NEFL/mTOR pathway.Brain and behavior · 2022Article
- The PI3K/AKT signalling pathway in inflammation, cell death and glial scar formation after traumatic spinal cord injury: Mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities.Cell proliferation · 2022Review
- Rosiglitazone Ameliorates Spinal Cord InjuryOxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2022Article
- Quercetin Can Improve Spinal Cord Injury by Regulating the mTOR Signaling Pathway.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Review
- Metformin for Cardiovascular Protection, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Osteoporosis, Periodontitis, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Neurodegeneration, Cancer, Inflammation and Senescence: What Is Next?ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2021Review
- Autophagy and apoptosis cascade: which is more prominent in neuronal death?Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2021Review
- Low-dose metformin treatment in the subacute phase improves the locomotor function of a mouse model of spinal cord injury.Neural regeneration research · 2021Article
- Biological Functions and Therapeutic Potential of Autophagy in Spinal Cord Injury.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Review
- Age-dependent autophagy induction after injury promotes axon regeneration by limiting NOTCH.Autophagy · 2020Article
- A Western diet impairs CNS energy homeostasis and recovery after spinal cord injury: Link to astrocyte metabolism.Neurobiology of disease · 2020Article
- Regulation of autophagy by inhibitory CSPG interactions with receptor PTPσ and its impact on plasticity and regeneration after spinal cord injury.Experimental neurology · 2020Review
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 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a serious central trauma, leading to severe dysfunction of motor and sensory systems. Secondary injuries, such as apoptosis and cell autophagy, significantly impact the motor function recovery process. Metformin is a widely used oral anti-diabetic agent for type 2 diabetes in the world. It has been demonstrated to promote autophagy and inhibit apoptosis in the nervous system. However, its role in recovery following SCI is still unknown. In this study, we determined that motor function, assessed using the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor assessment scale, was significantly higher in rats treated with metformin following injury. Nissl staining revealed that metformin also increased the number of surviving neurons in the spinal cord lesion. Western blot and immunofluorescent analysis revealed that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and P70S6 kinase (P70S6K) decreased, while the expression of autophagy markers increased and apoptosis markers declined in animals treated with metformin following SCI. Taken together, these findings suggest that metformin functions as a neuroprotective agent following SCI by promoting autophagy and inhibiting apoptosis by regulating the mTOR/P70S6K signaling pathway.
Indexed as
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.