Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42470822›Full record

ReviewPharmacological reviews2026

Recent advances in methotrexate pharmacology and potential therapeutic uses in age-related cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases.

Arduino A Mangoni, Julie-Ann Hulin, Sara Tommasi

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Pharmacological reviews, 2026. 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. 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

3 authors.

Arduino A MangoniDiscipline of Clinical Pharmacology, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia; Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia; Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Flinders Medical Centre, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: arduino.mangoni@flinders.edu.au.
Julie-Ann HulinDiscipline of Clinical Pharmacology, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia; Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.
Sara TommasiDiscipline of Clinical Pharmacology, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia; Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia; Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Flinders Medical Centre, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Experimental and clinical evidence continues to accumulate, supporting the critical role of dysregulated inflammation, immunity, and redox signaling in the pathophysiology of various age-related cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. While ongoing research is investigating novel anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory therapies for such conditions, available antirheumatic drugs may serve a similar purpose. One such drug, methotrexate, has been successfully used at high doses since the 1940s as an anticancer agent and, more recently, at lower doses in patients with autoimmune diseases. Although the effects of methotrexate have traditionally been attributed to its antiproliferative activity via folic acid modulation, additional targets have been identified, including AMP-activated protein kinase, Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription, high mobility group box 1 protein, the gut microbiota, and additional pharmacological effects of adenosine, a key mediator of methotrexate. The beneficial effects of modulating these targets on downstream inflammatory and immune pathways, cellular senescence, and vascular, metabolic, and brain homeostasis have been increasingly investigated in experimental models. Furthermore, studies conducted over the past 20 years suggest an association between low-dose methotrexate and a decreased risk of certain age-related cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases, particularly in patients with autoimmune conditions. The results of these studies support the potential protective role of methotrexate against age-associated cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases through multiple mechanisms, unlike targeted immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory drugs, thereby providing a robust framework for investigating its repurposing in future intervention studies. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: New treatments are essential to address the burden of age-related diseases. The important roles of dysregulated inflammation, immunity, and redox signaling in these conditions have spurred research into developing new therapies or repurposing existing drugs to target these dysfunctions. The disease-modifying antirheumatic drug methotrexate has shown potential protective effects against cellular senescence and certain age-related cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. This knowledge will encourage further research into the repurposing of methotrexate for the treatment of these diseases.

Indexed as

Cardiovascular DiseasesMetabolic DiseasesMethotrexateNeurodegenerative DiseasesAgingAnimalsHumansMethotrexate

Identifiers

PMID42470822
PMCPMC13689004

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.