Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35625721›Full record

ArticleBiomedicines2022

Metformin Protects against Diabetic Cardiomyopathy: An Association between Desmin-Sarcomere Injury and the iNOS/mTOR/TIMP-1 Fibrosis Axis.

Amal F Dawood, Norah M Alzamil, Peter W Hewett, Maha A Momenah, Mohammad Dallak, Samaa S Kamar, Dina H Abdel Kader, Hanaa Yassin, Mohamed A Haidara, Amro Maarouf and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Biomedicines, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 10% 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

20 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Diabetes and cancer: therapeutic implications.Cardio-oncology (London, England) · 2026
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
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

11 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

Amal F DawoodDepartment of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0001-7646-0909
Norah M AlzamilDepartment of Clinical Science, Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
Peter W HewettInstitute of Cardiovascular Sciences, College of Medicine and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
Maha A MomenahDepartment of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-1827-0995
Mohammad DallakDepartment of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha 61421, Saudi Arabia.
Samaa S KamarDepartment of Medical Histology, Kasr al-Aini Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 12613, Egypt.ORCID 0000-0002-9040-584X
Dina H Abdel KaderDepartment of Medical Histology, Kasr al-Aini Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 12613, Egypt.
Hanaa YassinDepartment of Physiology, Kasr al-Aini Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 12613, Egypt.
Mohamed A HaidaraDepartment of Physiology, Kasr al-Aini Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 12613, Egypt.
Amro MaaroufDepartment of Clinical Biochemistry, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham B9 5SS, UK.
Bahjat Al-AniDepartment of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha 61421, Saudi Arabia.
Cairo University · EGPrincess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University · SAKing Khalid University · SAUniversity Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust · GBUniversity of Birmingham · GB

Funding

King Abdul Aziz University Hospital Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, through the Research Funding Program, grant No (G18-00006).
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The intermediate filament protein desmin is essential for maintaining the structural integrity of sarcomeres, the fundamental unit of cardiac muscle. Diabetes mellitus (DM) can cause desmin to become dysregulated, following episodes of nitrosative stress, through the activation of the iNOS/mTOR/TIMP-1 pathway, thereby stimulating collagen deposition in the myocardium. In this study, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was induced in rats. One group of animals was pre-treated with metformin (200 mg/kg) prior to diabetes induction and subsequently kept on metformin until sacrifice at week 12. Cardiac injuries developed in the diabetic rats as demonstrated by a significant (p < 0.0001) inhibition of desmin immunostaining, profound sarcomere ultrastructural alterations, substantial damage to the left ventricular tissue, collagen deposition, and abnormal ECG recordings. DM also significantly induced the cardiac expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and the profibrogenic biomarker tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1). The expression of all these markers was significantly inhibited by metformin. In addition, a significant (p < 0.0001) correlation between desmin tissue levels/sarcomere damage and glycated hemoglobin, heart rate, iNOS, mTOR, and fibrosis was observed. These findings demonstrate an association between damage of the cardiac contractile unit—desmin and sarcomere—and the iNOS/mTOR/TIMP-1/collagen axis of fibrosis in T2DM-induced cardiomyopathy, with metformin exhibiting beneficial cardiovascular pleiotropic effects.

Indexed as

cardiomyopathydesmindiabetesfibrosismetforminsarcomere

Identifiers

PMID35625721
PMCPMC9139128
OpenAlexW4224323847

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.