ReviewFrontiers in pharmacology2022
The effects of metformin in the treatment of osteoarthritis: Current perspectives.
Review in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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
32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metformin for knee osteoarthritis in overweight and obese adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy, safety, and disease-modifying anti-inflammatory potential.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of metformin in the management of osteoarthritis in patients with type 2 diabetes.Clinical rheumatology · 2026 · on this mapPooled it
- Metformin as adjuvant therapy in obese knee osteoarthritis patients.Inflammopharmacology · 2024Trial
- Association of metformin with osteoarthritis progression and total joint arthroplasty: evidence from the UK Biobank, a large population-based cohort study.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Article
- Safety and efficacy of metformin for the treatment of pain: protocol for a systematic review.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Advances in heterogeneity and classification of osteoarthritis.Bone research · 2026Review
- Cellular senescence as a therapeutic target for aging intervention.Biomedical journal · 2026Review
- Smart Nanodelivery Systems for Immunometabolic Modulation in Osteoarthritis.Exploration (Beijing, China) · 2026Review
- Targeting Senescence in Adipose Microvasculature: A New Target Diabetes and Heart Failure.JACC. Basic to translational science · 2026Article
- Association between the Framingham steatosis index and osteoarthritis: evidence of mediation by phenotypic age.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Modifies the Association Between Exercise Therapy and Injury Risk and Long-Term Outcomes in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Exploring the therapeutic applications of metformin in articular cartilage repair: mechanistic insights and translational perspectives.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Intertwined roles of microRNA-155 and metformin in osteoarthritis: Novel potential diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic modulators.World journal of orthopedics · 2025Review
- Metformin does not decrease the incidence of shoulder arthroplasty in patients with glenohumeral joint osteoarthritis.JSES reviews, reports, and techniques · 2025Article
- Preclinical Assessment of a Metformin-Melatonin Combination: Antinociceptive Synergism.Pharmaceutics · 2025Article
- NLRP3 inflammasomes pathway: a key target for Metformin.Inflammopharmacology · 2025Review
- Metformin as a disease-modifying therapy in osteoarthritis: bridging metabolism and joint health.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Recent advances in the management of knee osteoarthritis: a narrative review.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
- Development of novel osteoarthritis therapy by targeting AMPK-β-catenin-Runx2 signaling.Genes & diseases · 2025Review
- Metformin Exhibits Anti-Inflammatory Effects by Regulating microRNA-451/CXCL16 and B Cell Leukemia/Lymphoma 2 in Patients With Osteoarthritis.ACR open rheumatology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Osteoarthritis is a chronic and irreversible disease of the locomotor system which is closely associated with advancing age. Pain and limited mobility frequently affect the quality of life in middle-aged and older adults. With a global population of more than 350 million, osteoarthritis is becoming a health threat alongside cancer and cardiovascular disease. It is challenging to find effective treatments to promote cartilage repair and slow down disease progression. Metformin is the first-line drug for patients with type 2 diabetes, and current perspectives suggest that it cannot only lower glucose but also has anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties. Experimental studies applying metformin for the treatment of osteoarthritis have received much attention in recent years. In our review, we first presented the history of metformin and the current status of osteoarthritis, followed by a brief review of the mechanism that metformin acts, involving AMPK-dependent and non-dependent pathways. Moreover, we concluded that metformin may be beneficial in the treatment of osteoarthritis by inhibiting inflammation, modulating autophagy, antagonizing oxidative stress, and reducing pain levels. Finally, we analyzed the relevant evidence from animal and human studies. The potential of metformin for the treatment of osteoarthritis deserves to be further explored.
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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.