Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37907510›Full record

SynthesisScientific reports2023

The effect of metformin therapy on serum thyrotropin and free thyroxine concentrations in patients with type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis.

Alireza Amirabadizadeh, Atieh Amouzegar, Ladan Mehran, Fereidoun Azizi

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 14% 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

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Endocrine-Metabolic Crosstalk Between Diabetes Mellitus and Hypothyroidism: From Network Mechanisms to Translational Stratification.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Metformin and Myo-Inositol: A Comparative Analysis.Gynecologic and obstetric investigation · 2026
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. 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

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Alireza AmirabadizadehEndocrine Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, I.R. of Iran.
Atieh AmouzegarEndocrine Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, I.R. of Iran.
Ladan MehranEndocrine Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, I.R. of Iran.
Fereidoun AziziEndocrine Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, I.R. of Iran. azizi@endocrine.ac.ir.ORCID 0000-0002-6470-2517
Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes and thyroid function disorders are two common chronic endocrine disorders with the high prevalence in various populations. Metformin is well established as the first-line drug therapy for managing diabetes mellitus. In this meta-analysis, we aimed to determine the effect of metformin on serum TSH and FT4 concentrations in patients with type 2 diabetes. We searched PubMed, Scopus, web of science, Cochrane library, and google scholar to collect information on the effect of metformin on serum TSH and FT4 levels. Demographic and clinical information and serum TSH and FT4 concentrations before and after metformin treatment were extracted. Studies on patients over 18 years of age were included. A total of 11 studies including 1147 patients were selected for the final analysis. In hypothyroid patients, the TSH level decreased significantly after treatment with metformin (Hedges's g:1.55, 95%CI 0.93-2.16, p-value < 0.001); FT4 level increased slightly after taking metformin, but the increase was not significant (Heddges's g: - 0.30, 95%CI  - 0.90,0.31, p-value = 0.34). In euthyroid subjects, the slight decrease found in TSH and FT4 concentrations was not statistically significant. Metformin reduces TSH levels in hypothyroid patients; however, it has no effect on TSH levels in euthyroid patients. Metformin does not affect serum FT4 levels in euthyroid and hypothyroid patients.

Indexed as

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2HypothyroidismMetforminAdolescentAdultHumansThyroid HormonesThyrotropinThyroxineTriiodothyronineMetforminThyroid HormonesThyrotropinThyroxineTriiodothyronine

Identifiers

PMID37907510
PMCPMC10618453
OpenAlexW4388071233

What OpenQuestion holds

Texttitle and abstract
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.