Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40916822›Full record

ArticleZhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences2025

Effects of metformin on gut microbiota and short

Ying Shi, Lin Xing, Shanyu Wu, Fangzhi Yue, Tianqiong He, Jing Zhang, Lingxuan Ouyang, Suisui Gao, Dongmei Zhang, Zhijun Zhou

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Zhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Metformin Beyond Glycemic Control: Cardiovascular Protection and Diabetes Prevention.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2026
    Review
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

10 authors.

Ying ShiDepartment of Endocrinology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008. xyshiying@tmmu.edu.cn.
Lin XingDepartment of Endocrinology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008.
Shanyu WuDepartment of Endocrinology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008.
Fangzhi YueDepartment of Endocrinology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008.
Tianqiong HeDepartment of Laboratory Animal Science, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China.
Jing ZhangDepartment of Laboratory Animal Science, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China.
Lingxuan OuyangDepartment of Laboratory Animal Science, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China.
Suisui GaoDepartment of Laboratory Animal Science, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China.
Dongmei ZhangDepartment of Endocrinology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008.
Zhijun ZhouDepartment of Laboratory Animal Science, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China. zhouzhijun@csu.edu.cn.

Funding

the Changsha Major Special Project of Science and Technology kh2301027the Hunan Provincial Key Research and Development Program 2024DK2001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesRecent evidence suggests that the gut may be a primary site of metformin action. However, studies on the effects of metformin on gut microbiota remain limited, and its impact on gut microbial metabolites such as short-/medium-chain fatty acids is unclear. This study aims to investigate the effects of metformin on gut microbiota, short-/medium-chain fatty acids, and associated metabolic benefits in high-fat diet rats.

methodsTwenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: 1) Normal diet group (ND group), fed standard chow; 2) high-fat diet group (HFD group), fed a high-fat diet; 3) high-fat diet + metformin treatment group (HFD+Met group), fed a high-fat diet for 8 weeks, followed by daily intragastric administration of metformin solution (150 mg/kg body weight) starting in week 9. At the end of the experiment, all rats were sacrificed, and serum, liver, and colonic contents were collected for assessment of glucose and lipid metabolism, liver pathology, gut microbiota composition, and the concentrations of short-/medium-chain fatty acids.

resultsMetformin significantly improved HFD-induced glucose and lipid metabolic disorders and liver injury. Compared with the HFD group, the HFD+Met group showed reduced abundance of

conclusionsMetformin significantly increases the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as

Indexed as

Diet, High-FatFatty AcidsFatty Acids, VolatileGastrointestinal MicrobiomeMetforminAnimalsMaleRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyFatty AcidsFatty Acids, VolatileMetformingut microbiotamedium chain fatty acidsmetabolismmetforminshort chain fatty acids

Identifiers

PMID40916822
PMCPMC12406107

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.