Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31161347›Full record

Trial reportDiabetologia2019

The impact of GDF-15, a biomarker for metformin, on the risk of coronary artery disease, breast and colorectal cancer, and type 2 diabetes and metabolic traits: a Mendelian randomisation study.

Shiu Lun Au Yeung, Shan Luo, C Mary Schooling

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Diabetologia, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
8.1field-weighted citation impact, top 2% 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

31 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Trial
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. 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 at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Shiu Lun Au YeungSchool of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 7 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China. ayslryan@hku.hk.ORCID 0000-0001-6136-1836
Shan LuoSchool of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 7 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.
C Mary SchoolingSchool of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 7 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.
City University of New York · USHKU-Pasteur Research Pole · HKUniversity of Hong Kong · HK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aims/hypothesisGrowth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), a suggested biomarker for metformin use, may explain the potential cardioprotective and anti-cancer properties of metformin. We conducted a Mendelian randomisation study to examine the role of GDF-15 in risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) and breast and colorectal cancer. Secondary analyses included examination of the association of GDF-15 with type 2 diabetes, glycaemic traits, BP, lipids and BMI.

methodsWe obtained SNPs strongly (p value <5 × 10

resultsUsing 5 SNPs, increased GDF-15 was associated with lower CAD (OR 0.93 per SD increase, 95% CI 0.87, 0.99) and breast cancer (OR 0.89 per SD increase, 95% CI 0.82, 0.96), with similar results from lead SNP analysis. However, the associations with CAD (OR 0.99 per SD increase, 95% CI 0.93, 1.04) and breast cancer (OR 0.97 per SD increase, 95% CI 0.94, 1.01) in the validation studies were not as apparent. GDF-15 was not associated with type 2 diabetes, glycaemic traits, CAD risk factors or colorectal cancer. CONCLUSIONS/

interpretationThere is no convincing evidence that GDF-15 reduces risk of CAD or breast or colorectal cancer. Whether the observed inverse association of metformin use with cancer risk is via other unexplored mechanistic pathways warrants further investigation.

Indexed as

BiomarkersBreast NeoplasmsCholesterol, HDLCholesterol, LDLColorectal NeoplasmsCoronary Artery DiseaseDiabetes Mellitus, Type 2Genome-Wide Association StudyGrowth Differentiation Factor 15HumansMetforminPolymorphism, Single NucleotideRisk FactorsBiomarkersCholesterol, HDLCholesterol, LDLGrowth Differentiation Factor 15MetforminCancerCoronary artery diseaseGrowth differentiation factor 15Mendelian randomisationmetformin

Identifiers

PMID31161347
OpenAlexW2948412754

What Socratic holds

Texttitle and abstract
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 Socratic graph.