ArticlePediatric research2023
Circulating GDF15 concentrations in girls with low birth weight: effects of prolonged metformin treatment.
Article in Pediatric research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Circulating Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF15) in Paediatric Disease: A Systematic Review.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Pooled it
- Analysis of factors influencing polycystic ovary syndrome in women of reproductive age based on directed acyclic graphs.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Proteome of Exosomes at Birth Predicts Insulin Resistance, Adrenarche and Liver Fat in Childhood.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Circulating exosomes decrease in size and increase in number between birth and age 7: relations to fetal growth and liver fat.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLow birth weight (LBW) followed by a rapid postnatal catch-up in weight predisposes individuals to a central distribution of body fat, which is reverted by metformin. Growth-and-differentiation-factor-15 (GDF15) plays an important role in the regulation of energy homeostasis, reducing food intake and body weight. We assessed whether GDF15 concentrations are raised by long-term metformin treatment in LBW/catch-up girls with precocious pubarche (PP, pubic hair <8 years), and whether they relate to changes in endocrine-metabolic variables, body composition, and abdominal fat partitioning.
methodsCirculating GDF15 was determined in 30 LBW/catch-up girls with PP randomly assigned to receive metformin for 4 years (n = 15; 425 mg/d for 2 years, then 850 mg/d for 2 years) or to remain untreated (n = 15). Endocrine-metabolic variables, body composition (by absorptiometry), and abdominal fat partitioning (by MRI) were assessed at the start and yearly during follow-up.
resultsCirculating GDF15 concentrations increased significantly in LBW-PP girls only after 3 and 4 years on metformin. GDF15 levels associated negatively with insulin, HOMA-IR, androgens, body fat, and visceral fat.
conclusionPrepubertal intervention with metformin reduces central adiposity and insulin resistance in girls with reduced prenatal growth. GDF15 could be among the mediators of such effects, especially over the long term. IMPACT: Low birth weight followed by a rapid postnatal catch-up in weight predisposes individuals to a central distribution of body fat, which is reverted by metformin. Growth-and-differentiation-factor-15 (GDF15) is a peptide hormone that reduces food intake and lowers body weight; metformin is an exogenous GDF15 secretagogue. Serum GDF15 concentrations increase after 3 and 4 years on metformin and associate negatively with insulin, androgens, body fat, and visceral fat. Prepubertal intervention with metformin reduces central adiposity and insulin resistance in girls with low birth weight. GDF15 could mediate these effects, especially over the long term.
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