Trial reportLupus science & medicine2020
Effects of metformin on disease flares in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: post hoc analyses from two randomised trials.
Trial report in Lupus science & medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02741960 (A Multicenter, Randomised, Double-blind Placebo Controlled Trial on the Efficacy and Safety of add-on Metformin to Conventional Immunosuppressants in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus), which is not on this map. Cited by 34 papers.
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.
A Multicenter, Randomised, Double-blind Placebo Controlled Trial on the Efficacy and Safety of add-on Metformin to Conventional Immunosuppressants in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Review
- Hepatic control of immunometabolism: implications for the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of rheumatic diseases.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2026Review
- Mitochondrial DNA in systemic lupus erythematosus: pathogenic mechanisms, clinical biomarkers, and precision therapeutic strategies.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Advances in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.Nature reviews. Drug discovery · 2025Review
- Mitochondrial ABHD11 inhibition drives sterol metabolism to modulate T-cell effector function.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Immunometabolism in systemic lupus erythematosus.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2025Review
- Mitochondrial DNA signals driving immune responses: Why, How, Where?Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2025Review
- SGLT2 inhibitors in autoimmune diseases: emerging therapeutic potential and clinical challenges.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Insights and Therapeutic Potential.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Immunomodulatory Effects of SGLT2 Inhibitors and Metformin in Managing Rheumatic Diseases: A Narrative Review.Mediterranean journal of rheumatology · 2024Review
- Metformin in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Investigating Cardiovascular Impact and Nephroprotective Effects in Lupus Nephritis.ACR open rheumatology · 2024Article
- Redox Pathogenesis in Rheumatic Diseases.ACR open rheumatology · 2024Review
- Narrative Review of Immunomodulatory and Anti-inflammatory Effects of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors: Unveiling Novel Therapeutic Frontiers.Kidney international reports · 2024Review
- Vascular damage in systemic lupus erythematosus.Nature reviews. Nephrology · 2024Review
- A global view of T cell metabolism in systemic lupus erythematosus.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Altered lipid homeostasis and autophagy precipitate diffuse alveolar hemorrhage in murine lupus.Autophagy reports · 2024Article
- Metabolic Modulators in Cardiovascular Complications of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- Review
- NETosis: an emerging therapeutic target in renal diseases.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- B cell activation via immunometabolism in systemic lupus erythematosus.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo confirm that metformin prevents flares in patients with SLE with low disease activity, we performed a post hoc analysis combining our previous two randomised trials.
methodsPost hoc analyses were performed on data from the open-labelled proof-of-concept trial (n=113, ChiCTR-TRC-12002419) and placebo-controlled 'Met Lupus' trial (n=140, NCT02741960) comparing the efficacy of metformin versus placebo/nil add-on to standard therapy in patients with SLE with low disease activity (SELENA-SLEDAI ≤4). The primary endpoint was defined by the SELENA-SLEDAI Flare Index at 12-month follow-up. A subgroup analysis was performed.
resultsOverall, 201 eligible patients were included, with 99 allocated to metformin group and 102 allocated to the placebo/nil group. By 12 months of follow-up, 21 patients (21.2%) flared in the metformin group, as compared with 36 (35.3%) in the placebo/nil group (p=0.027, risk ratio=0.68, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.96). Subgroup analysis showed that patients with negative anti-dsDNA antibody and normal complement at baseline, and a disease duration <5 years with concomitant use of hydroxychloroquine had a better response to metformin.
conclusionPost hoc pooled analyses suggested that metformin reduced subsequent disease flares in patients with SLE with low disease activity, especially for serologically quiescent patients.
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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.