SynthesisFrontiers in endocrinology2021
The Efficacy and Potential Mechanisms of Metformin in the Treatment of COVID-19 in the Diabetics: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Frontiers in endocrinology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association Between Anti-diabetic Agents and Clinical Outcomes of COVID-19 in Patients with Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Archives of medical research · 2022Pooled it
- The Association Between Antidiabetic Agents and Clinical Outcomes of COVID-19 Patients With Diabetes: A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022 · on this mapPooled it
- Prior SGLT2 Inhibitor and Metformin Use and Risk of Long COVID in Type 2 Diabetes: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2026Article
- The silent epidemic within the pandemic: pathophysiology and prediction of post-COVID-19 diabetes.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- The mechanisms underlying COVID-19 induced insulin resistance: a narrative review.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Review
- Anti-Inflammatory Potential of the Anti-Diabetic Drug Metformin in the Prevention of Inflammatory Complications and Infectious Diseases Including COVID-19: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Acarbose reduces Pseudomonas aeruginosa respiratory tract infection in type 2 diabetic mice.Respiratory research · 2023Article
- Article
- Article
- The Effects of Viruses on Insulin Sensitivity and Blood-Brain Barrier Function.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Repurposing Metformin for Vascular Disease.Current medicinal chemistry · 2023Review
- Old drug, new tricks: the utility of metformin in infection and vaccination responses to influenza and SARS-CoV-2 in older adults.Frontiers in aging · 2023Review
- Considerations for management of patients with diabetes mellitus and acute COVID-19.World journal of diabetes · 2022Article
- Changing Patterns of Antihyperglycaemic Treatment among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Hungary between 2015 and 2020-Nationwide Data from a Register-Based Analysis.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- Insulin Resistance in Peripheral Tissues and the Brain: A Tale of Two Sites.Biomedicines · 2022Review
- The role of AMPK-dependent pathways in cellular and molecular mechanisms of metformin: a new perspective for treatment and prevention of diseases.Inflammopharmacology · 2022Review
- Inflammatory Mechanisms of Diabetes and Its Vascular Complications.Biomedicines · 2022Review
- Preadmission usage of metformin and mortality in COVID-19 patients including the post-discharge period.Irish journal of medical science · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most common comorbidities among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which may exacerbate complications of this new viral infection. Metformin is an anti-hyperglycemic agent with host-directed immune-modulatory effects, which relieve exaggerated inflammation and reduce lung tissue damage. The current systematic review aimed to summarize the available evidence on the potential mechanism of action and the efficacy of metformin in COVID-19 patients with DM. Methods: A systematic search was carried out in PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, the Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials (CENTRAL), and Web of Science up to July 30, 2020. The following keywords were used: "COVID-19", "SARS-CoV-2", "2019-nCoV", "metformin", and "antidiabetic drug". Results: Fourteen studies were included in our systematic review. Three of them were observational with 6,659 participants. Decreasing insulin resistance, reduction of some inflammatory cytokines like IL-6 and TNF-α, modulation of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, and improving neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio are some of the potential mechanisms of metformin in COVID-19 patients with DM. Nine out of fourteen articles revealed the positive effect of metformin on the prognosis of COVID-19 in diabetic or even non-diabetic patients. Moreover, different studies have shown that metformin is more effective in women than men. Conclusions: The use of metformin may lead to improve the clinical outcomes of patients with mild to moderate SARS-CoV-2, especially in diabetic women. Further observational studies should be conducted to clarify the effects of metformin as a part of the treatment strategy of COVID-19.
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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.