ArticleScientific reports2021
The antiviral effect of metformin on zika and dengue virus infection.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 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
37 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metformin for Treatment of Acute COVID-19: Systematic Review of Clinical Trial Data Against SARS-CoV-2.Diabetes care · 2023Pooled it
- Safety and tolerability of metformin in overweight and obese patients with dengue: An open-label clinical trial (MeDO).PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Trial
- AMPK-Orchestrated Metabolic Reprogramming in Some Flavivirus Infections: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities.Viruses · 2026Review
- Assessing the burden of diabetes mellitus in dengue patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.New microbes and new infections · 2026Article
- Guanidines: Privileged Scaffolds Against Neglected Tropical Diseases: A Review.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Fatty acid transporter protein isoform 2 (FATP2) inhibitor lipofermata inhibits Zika virus replication and blocks fatty acid uptake in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Fisetin as an Antiviral Agent Targeting the RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase of SARS-CoV-2: Computational Prediction and In Vitro Experimental Validation.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- The protective role of metformin against severe dengue disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a preliminary report in Mexico.World journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Lipids, Tetraspanins, and Exosomes: Cell Factors inViruses · 2025Review
- Direct pharmacological AMPK activation inhibits mucosal SARS-CoV-2 infection by reducing lipid metabolism, restoring autophagy flux and the type I IFN response.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- Investigating how dengue virus-induced metabolic changes affect the host immune response and how to develop Immunomodulatory strategies.Virology journal · 2025Review
- Cytoplasmic retention of dengue virus capsid protein by metformin impairing nuclear transport.The Journal of general virology · 2025Article
- Advances in antiviral strategies targeting mosquito-borne viruses: cellular, viral, and immune-related approaches.Virology journal · 2025Review
- A Comprehensive Review of the Development and Therapeutic Use of Antivirals in Flavivirus Infection.Viruses · 2025Review
- Dengue Virus Infection: Immune Response and Therapeutic Targets.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Review
- The importance of paying attention to the role of lipid-lowering drugs in controlling dengue virus infection.Virology journal · 2024Review
- Review
- Prodigiosin Demonstrates Promising Antiviral Activity Against Dengue Virus and Zika Virus in In-silico Study.Analytical science advances · 2024Article
- Diverse Applications of the Anti-Diabetic Drug Metformin in Treating Human Disease.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Transcriptomic Analysis of Metformin's Effect on Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Infection.Veterinary sciences · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The Dengue (DENV) and zika (ZIKV) virus infections are currently a public health concern. At present, there is no treatment or a safe and effective vaccine for these viruses. Hence, the development of new strategies as host-directed therapy is required. In this sense, Metformin (MET), an FDA-approved drug used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, has shown an anti-DENV effect in vitro by activating AMPK and reducing HMGCR activity. In this study, MET treatment was evaluated during in vitro and in vivo ZIKV infection and compared to MET treatment during DENV infection. Our results demonstrated that MET has a broad in vitro antiviral spectrum. MET inhibited ZIKV infection in different cell lines, but it was most effective in inhibiting DENV and yellow fever virus (YFV) infection in Huh-7 cells. However, the drug failed to protect against ZIKV infection when AG129 immunodeficient mice were used as in vivo model. Interestingly, MET increased DENV-infected male mice's survival time, reducing the severe signs of the disease. Together, these findings indicate that, although MET was an effective antiviral agent to inhibit in vitro and in vivo DENV infection, it could only inhibit in vitro ZIKV infection.
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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.