ArticlePloS one2019
Metformin strongly affects transcriptome of peripheral blood cells in healthy individuals.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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
18 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of metformin on transcriptomic and metabolomic profiles in breast cancer survivors enrolled in the randomized placebo-controlled MetBreCS trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Exercise training reduces circulating cytokines in male patients with coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes: A pilot study.Physiological reports · 2023Trial
- Harnessing Pharmacomultiomics for Precision Medicine in Diabetes: A Comprehensive Review.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Innovative aspects and applications of single cell technology for different diseases.American journal of cancer research · 2024Review
- Metformin mitigates radiation toxicity exerting antioxidant and genoprotective properties.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2023Article
- Metformin induces tolerogenicity of dendritic cells by promoting metabolic reprogramming.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2023Article
- Composition of the maternal gastrointestinal microbiome as a predictor of neonatal birth weight.Pediatric research · 2023Article
- Peripheral blood transcriptome analysis of patients with ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome through high-throughput sequencing.Reproductive and developmental medicine · 2023Article
- Implications of genetic variations, differential gene expression, and allele-specific expression on metformin response in drug-naïve type 2 diabetes.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2023Article
- Discovery of drug-omics associations in type 2 diabetes with generative deep-learning models.Nature biotechnology · 2023Article
- Metformin targets intestinal immune system signaling pathways in a high-fat diet-induced mouse model of obesity and insulin resistance.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Predictive genomic tools in disease stratification and targeted prevention: a recent update in personalized therapy advancements.The EPMA journal · 2022Review
- The promising therapeutic effects of metformin on metabolic reprogramming of cancer-associated fibroblasts in solid tumors.Cellular & molecular biology letters · 2022Article
- Transcriptional and H3K27ac related genome profiles in oral squamous cell carcinoma cells treated with metformin.Journal of Cancer · 2022Article
- Still Living Better through Chemistry: An Update on Caloric Restriction and Caloric Restriction Mimetics as Tools to Promote Health and Lifespan.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Review
- Whole-blood transcriptome profiling reveals signatures of metformin and its therapeutic response.PloS one · 2020Article
- High-Throughput Transcriptome Profiling in Drug and Biomarker Discovery.Frontiers in genetics · 2020Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Metformin is a commonly used antihyperglycaemic agent for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Nevertheless, the exact mechanisms of action, underlying the various therapeutic effects of metformin, remain elusive. The goal of this study was to evaluate the alterations in longitudinal whole-blood transcriptome profiles of healthy individuals after a one-week metformin intervention in order to identify the novel molecular targets and further prompt the discovery of predictive biomarkers of metformin response. Next generation sequencing-based transcriptome analysis revealed metformin-induced differential expression of genes involved in intestinal immune network for IgA production and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathways. Significantly elevated faecal sIgA levels during administration of metformin, and its correlation with the expression of genes associated with immune response (CXCR4, HLA-DQA1, MAP3K14, TNFRSF21, CCL4, ACVR1B, PF4, EPOR, CXCL8) supports a novel hypothesis of strong association between metformin and intestinal immune system, and for the first time provide evidence for altered RNA expression as a contributing mechanism of metformin's action. In addition to universal effects, 4 clusters of functionally related genes with a subject-specific differential expression were distinguished, including genes relevant to insulin production (HNF1B, HNF1A, HNF4A, GCK, INS, NEUROD1, PAX4, PDX1, ABCC8, KCNJ11) and cholesterol homeostasis (APOB, LDLR, PCSK9). This inter-individual variation of the metformin effect on the transcriptional regulation goes in line with well-known variability of the therapeutic response to the drug.
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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.