ArticlePathogens (Basel, Switzerland)2022
Patients with Obesity and a History of Metformin Treatment Have Lower Influenza Mortality: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
Article in Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metformin for Treatment of Acute COVID-19: Systematic Review of Clinical Trial Data Against SARS-CoV-2.Diabetes care · 2023Pooled it
- The effect of metformin treatment during primary influenza infection on heterologous challenge in young and aged mice.Frontiers in aging · 2026Article
- Review
- Metformin: update on mechanisms of action and repurposing potential.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 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
- Serum Bilirubin Levels and Risk of Venous Thromboembolism among Influenza Patients: A Cohort Study.Clinical and applied thrombosis/hemostasis : official journal of the International Academy of Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/HemostasisArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundObesity is a risk factor for the development of influenza by leading to a chronic inflammatory state and T-cell dysfunction. Based upon preclinical research, metformin has influenza activity by restoring T-cell function and improving the immune response.
objectiveWe aimed to evaluate the potential drug repurposing of metformin for the management of influenza among patients with obesity utilizing national claims data in an electronic health record database.
methodsThe VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI) was utilized to obtain individual-level information on demographics, administrative claims, and pharmacy dispensation. A cohort was created among individuals with laboratory confirmed diagnosis of influenza with a diagnosis of fever, cough, influenza, or acute upper respiratory infection in an outpatient setting. The study outcome was death after diagnosis of influenza. Cohorts were formed using diabetes status and metformin exposure prior to a positive influenza diagnosis. Hazard ratios for mortality were estimated using a cox proportional hazards model adjusting for baseline covariates and a sub-analysis was conducted utilizing propensity score matching. A greedy nearest neighbor algorithm was utilized to match 1 to 1 non-metformin diabetic controls and non-diabetic controls to diabetic patients receiving metformin.
resultsA total of 3551 patients met the inclusion criteria and were evaluated in our study. The cohorts consisted of 1461 patients in the non-diabetic cohort, 1597 patients in the diabetic / metformin cohort, and 493 patients in the diabetic no metformin cohort. Compared to non-diabetic patients, diabetic patients with metformin had a lower rate of death (aHR 0.78, 95% CI 0.609-0.999). There was not a statistical difference between the non-diabetic patients and the diabetic patients without metformin (aHR 1.046, 95% CI 0.781-1.400). The propensity score matched cohorts revealed consistent results with the primary analysis.
conclusionOur results demonstrated patients with obesity and a history of metformin treatment have lower influenza mortality.
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