Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32748028›Full record

ArticleDiabetologia2020

Evaluating the impact of AMPK activation, a target of metformin, on risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer in the UK Biobank: a Mendelian randomisation study.

Shan Luo, C Mary Schooling, Ian Chi Kei Wong, Shiu Lun Au Yeung

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Diabetologia, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Leveraging Mendelian randomization to inform drug discovery and development for ischemic stroke.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2026
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  16. Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors and the Risk of Pneumonia and Septic Shock.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2022
    Article
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  19. Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in the 3' Untranslated Region ofTherapeutics and clinical risk management · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Shan LuoSchool of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 1/F, Patrick Manson Building (North Wing), 7 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.ORCID 0000-0003-3368-9935
C Mary SchoolingSchool of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 1/F, Patrick Manson Building (North Wing), 7 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.ORCID 0000-0001-9933-5887
Ian Chi Kei WongDepartment of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.ORCID 0000-0001-8242-0014
Shiu Lun Au YeungSchool of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 1/F, Patrick Manson Building (North Wing), 7 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China. ayslryan@hku.hk.ORCID 0000-0001-6136-1836
Chinese University of Hong Kong · HKCity University of New York · USHKU-Pasteur Research Pole · HKUniversity of Hong Kong · HK

Funding

Medical Research Council MC_PC_17228Medical Research Council MC_QA137853University of Hong Kong *200008682.920006.20006.400.01
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aims/hypothesisWhether metformin reduces cardiovascular or cancer risk is unclear owing to concerns over immortal time bias and confounding in observational studies. This study evaluated the effect of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), the target of metformin, on risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

methodsThis is a Mendelian randomisation design, using AMPK, the pharmacological target of metformin, to infer the AMPK pathway-dependent effects of metformin on risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer in participants of white British ancestry in the UK Biobank.

resultsA total of 391,199 participants were included (mean age 56.9 years; 54.1% women), including 26,690 cases of type 2 diabetes, 38,098 cases of coronary artery disease and 80,941 cases of overall cancer. Genetically predicted reduction in HbA CONCLUSIONS/

interpretationThis study provides some genetic evidence that AMPK activation by metformin may protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer, which needs to be confirmed by randomised controlled trials.

Indexed as

AMP-Activated Protein KinasesCardiovascular DiseasesFemaleGenome-Wide Association StudyHumansMaleMendelian Randomization AnalysisMetforminMiddle AgedNeoplasmsRisk FactorsUnited KingdomAMP-Activated Protein KinasesMetforminAMPKCancerCoronary artery diseaseMendelian randomisationMetforminType 2 diabetesUK Biobank

Identifiers

PMID32748028
OpenAlexW3047126227

What OpenQuestion holds

Texttitle and abstract
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.