ReviewCurrent obesity reports2019
Metformin: Mechanisms in Human Obesity and Weight Loss.
Review in Current obesity reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 193 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
193 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 396 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intervening Early in the Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome: Expert Recommendations from the United Arab Emirates on the Management of Prediabetes.Vascular health and risk management · 2026Guideline
- Comparison of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists Combined with Metformin Versus Metformin Alone in the Management of PCOS: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness and mechanism of metformin in animal models of pulmonary fibrosis: A preclinical systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- The anti-obesogenic metabolite, Lac-Phe, is elevated by metformin treatment in prostate cancer patients.EMBO molecular medicine · 2026Trial
- Metabolic profiling of healthy vs. syndrome-associated obesity and effects of six-month metformin therapy.Acta diabetologica · 2026 · on this mapTrial
- Metformin as adjuvant therapy in obese knee osteoarthritis patients.Inflammopharmacology · 2024Trial
- A 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Meal Replacement Diet and Glycemic Control for Adults With Diabetes: The EARLY Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2024 · on this mapTrial
- Effects of combined metformin and cabergoline versus metformin alone on ovarian and hormonal activities in Iraqi patients with PCOS and hyperprolactinemia: a randomized clinical trial.Journal of medicine and life · 2023Trial
- Metformin with Versus without Concomitant Probiotic Therapy in Newly Diagnosed Patients with Type 2 Diabetes or Prediabetes: A Comparative Analysis in Relation to Glycemic Control, Gastrointestinal Side Effects, and Treatment Compliance.The Turkish journal of gastroenterology : the official journal of Turkish Society of Gastroenterology · 2022Trial
- Growth differentiation factor 15 is not associated with glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with metformin: a post-hoc analysis of AIM study.BMC endocrine disorders · 2022Trial
- Metformin improves the weight reduction effect of mazindol in prediabetic obese Mexican subjects.International journal of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2022Trial
- Advances in pharmacologic management of obesity: oral semaglutide for weight management.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2026Article
- Association of metformin with osteoarthritis progression and total joint arthroplasty: evidence from the UK Biobank, a large population-based cohort study.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Article
- Ketosis elevates plasma concentrations of D-β-hydroxybutyryl-phenylalanine (BHB-Phe) in humans.Nutrition & metabolism · 2026Article
- The hypothalamus as a therapeutic target: Towards novel approaches for managing antipsychotic-induced weight gain.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2026Review
- Metformin use linked to decreased risk of pelvic organ prolapse: insights from NHANES data.International urology and nephrology · 2026Article
- Tirzepatide and Metformin Effects on Hunger and BMI in an Adolescent with Hyperphagia and Severe Obesity due to MC4R Deficiency: A Case Report.Obesity facts · 2026Article
- Review
- What ultimately underlies vitamin B12 and folate deficiency in subjects treated with biguanides?Hormones (Athens, Greece) · 2026Review
- Weight Loss Patterns and Clinical Outcomes of GLP1 Receptor Agonists in Breast Cancer Survivors.Cancer research communications · 2026Article
133 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
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purpose of reviewMetformin has multiple benefits for health beyond its anti-hyperglycemic properties. The purpose of this manuscript is to review the mechanisms that underlie metformin's effects on obesity. RECENT
findingsMetformin is a first-line therapy for type 2 diabetes. Large cohort studies have shown weight loss benefits associated with metformin therapy. Metabolic consequences were traditionally thought to underlie this effect, including reduction in hepatic gluconeogenesis and reduction in insulin production. Emerging evidence suggests that metformin-associated weight loss is due to modulation of hypothalamic appetite regulatory centers, alteration in the gut microbiome, and reversal of consequences of aging. Metformin is also being explored in the management of obesity's sequelae such as hepatic steatosis, obstructive sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis. Multiple mechanisms underlie the weight loss-inducing and health-promoting effects of metformin. Further exploration of these pathways may be important in identifying new pharmacologic targets for obesity and other aging-associated metabolic diseases.
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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.