ReviewFrontiers in endocrinology2020
GDF-15 as a Weight Watcher for Diabetic and Non-Diabetic People Treated With Metformin.
Review in Frontiers in endocrinology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Organokines in COVID-19: A Systematic Review.Cells · 2023Pooled it
- The effect of exercise on GDF-15 levels in individuals with prediabetes: A randomized controlled trial.Journal of diabetes investigation · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Plasma GDF-15 Levels Are Associated With HIV Reservoir Markers Independently of Inflammation in People With HIV on Antiretroviral Therapy.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Unveiling GDF-15: a new frontier in combating diabetic osteoporosis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Pleiotropic effects of GDF-15 to regulate nutritional status: perspectives from body composition to nutrition-related disorders.British journal of biomedical science · 2026Review
- Proteomics of aging: biomarkers for physiological systems and diseases.Frontiers in aging · 2026Review
- Mapping growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF15)-mediated signaling pathways in cancer: insights into its role across different cancer types.Discover oncology · 2025Article
- GDF-15 as a proxy for epigenetic aging: associations with biological age markers, and physical function.Biogerontology · 2024Article
- Metformin Treatment Leads to Increased HIV Transcription and Gene Expression through Increased CREB Phosphorylation and Recruitment to the HIV LTR Promoter.Aging and disease · 2024Article
- Proteomics validate circulating GDF-15 as an independent biomarker for COVID-19 severity.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Role and Mechanism of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 in Chronic Kidney Disease.Journal of inflammation research · 2024Review
- Metformin and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) in type 2 diabetes mellitus: A hidden treasure.Journal of diabetes · 2022Review
- Growth differentiation factor 15 as an emerging novel biomarker in SARS-CoV-2 infection.World journal of methodology · 2022Article
- Pathophysiological role of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) in obesity, cancer, and cachexia.Cytokine & growth factor reviews · 2022Review
- GDF15: a potential therapeutic target for type 1 diabetes.Expert opinion on therapeutic targets · 2022Review
- Growth differentiation factor-15 as a biomarker of atherosclerotic coronary plaque: Value in people living with and without HIV.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Article
- Late-Breaking Abstracts for ECO2022.Obesity facts · 2022Article
- Coping With Stress: The Mitokine GDF-15 as a Biomarker of COVID-19 Severity.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Review
- Exercise and Metformin Intervention Prevents Lipotoxicity-Induced Hepatocyte Apoptosis by Alleviating Oxidative and ER Stress and Activating the AMPK/Nrf2/HO-1 Signaling Pathway in db/db Mice.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Weight gain and obesity are global health concerns contributing to morbidity with increased risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, liver steatohepatitis and cancer. Pharmacological therapies or bariatric surgery are often required for those who fail to adhere to diet and lifestyle modifications. Metformin, a widely used antidiabetic agent, seems to have a health benefit beyond its anti-hyperglycemic properties, with few side effects. Emerging evidence shows weight loss to be associated with metformin in both diabetic and non-diabetic individuals. Recently, the growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), a member of the transforming growth factor beta superfamily, has been identified as a key mediator of metformin-induced weight loss. Metformin increases the secretion of GDF-15, which binds exclusively to glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor family receptor alpha-like (GFRAL). This gut-brain cytokine works as a prominent player in reducing food intake and body weight in health and disease, like anorexia nervosa and cancer. Herein, we critically review advances in the understanding of the weight-reducing effects of metformin
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What Socratic holds
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 Socratic graph.