ReviewPharmaceutical research2024
Therapeutic Effects of Metformin on Central Nervous System Diseases: A Focus on Protection of Neurovascular Unit.
Review in Pharmaceutical research, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effect of antidiabetic drugs in Alzheimer´s disease: a systematic review of preclinical and clinical studies.Molecular neurodegeneration · 2025Pooled it
- Role of Microglial Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease: From Multifactorial Causes to Neurodegeneration.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Review
- Polymorphism Control of Carbamazepine Based on Deep Eutectic Solvents.Pharmaceutical research · 2026Article
- Metformin Alone and in Combinations Alter the Methylation Patterns ofEndocrine, metabolic & immune disorders drug targets · 2026Article
- Endothelial ferroptosis in blood-brain barrier dysfunction and neuroinflammation: mechanisms and immune-vascular crosstalk.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Targeting Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation and Autophagy in Alzheimer's Disease: Insights into Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential.Neurochemical research · 2025Review
- The AMPK/GDF15 Axis: A Novel Target for the Neuroprotective Effects of Metformin in Ischemic Stroke.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- From Diabetes to Degenerative Diseases: The Multifaceted Action of Metformin.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Brain Endothelial Cells in Blood-Brain Barrier Regulation and Neurological Therapy.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Metformin modulates oxidative stress via activation of AMPK/NF-κB signaling in Trisomy 21 fibroblasts: anFrontiers in molecular biosciences · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Metformin is one of the most commonly used oral hypoglycemic drugs in clinical practice, with unique roles in neurodegeneration and vascular lesions. Neurodegeneration and vasculopathy coexist in many diseases and typically affect the neurovascular unit (NVU), a minimal structural and functional unit in the central nervous system. Its components interact with one another and are indispensable for maintaining tissue homeostasis. This review focuses on retinal (diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa) and cerebral (ischemic stroke, Alzheimer's disease) diseases to explore the effects of metformin on the NVU. Metformin has a preliminarily confirmed therapeutic effect on the retinal NUV, affecting many of its components, such as photoreceptors (cones and rods), microglia, ganglion, Müller, and vascular endothelial cells. Since it rapidly penetrates the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and accumulates in the brain, metformin also has an extensively studied neuronal protective effect in neuronal diseases. Its mechanism affects various NVU components, including pericytes, astrocytes, microglia, and vascular endothelial cells, mainly serving to protect the BBB. Regulating the inflammatory response in NVU (especially neurons and microglia) may be the main mechanism of metformin in improving central nervous system related diseases. Metformin may be a potential drug for treating diseases associated with NVU deterioration, however, more trials are needed to validate its timing, duration, dose, clinical effects, and side effects.
Indexed as
Identifiers
39375240What 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.