Evidence mapPaperPMID 41225611Full record

ArticleJournal of translational medicine2025

Metformin protects against cyclophosphamide-induced ovarian fibrosis by MIF/CD74-mediated macrophage polarization.

Ping Nie, Bo Yao, Zhejun Zhang, Jingling Li, Minghua Wang, Gendie E Lash, Bihui Guo, Ping Li

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of translational medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing 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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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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

8 authors.

Ping NieDepartment of Pathology, Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou, 510632, China.
Bo YaoDepartment of Pathology, Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou, 510632, China.
Zhejun ZhangDepartment of Pathology, Jinan University First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou, 510632, China.
Jingling LiDepartment of Pathology, Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou, 510632, China.
Minghua WangDepartment of Pathology, Longgang District People's Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, 518172, China.
Gendie E LashGuangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510623, China.
Bihui GuoDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Huizhou Second Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Huizhou, 516001, China. hzsbjy@126.com.
Ping LiDepartment of Pathology, Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou, 510632, China. pinger355@126.com.ORCID 0000-0003-3473-6553

Funding

Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation 2023A1515140168, 2024A1515011821Longgang District Science and Technology Innovation Bureau Project, Shenzhen LGKCYLWS2024-9
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCyclophosphamide (CTX) -induced ovarian fibrosis is involved in premature ovarian failure (POF). While metformin has demonstrated anti-fibrotic properties, the mechanism by which it regulates fibroblast activation, the primary effector cells in fibrosis, remains unclear in POF.

methodsThe therapeutic effects of metformin were investigated in CTX-treated mice and further explored its interaction with macrophage-fibroblast crosstalk using an in vitro co-culture system.

resultsRNA sequencing revealed that metformin suppressed the MIF/CD74 signaling pathway, which was significantly activated by CTX in ovarian tissues. In vitro, CTX increased the CD86+/CD206 + macrophage ratio via NF-κB pathway activation, indicating altered macrophage polarization. Metformin or the MIF inhibitor ISO-1 reversed this polarization imbalance, thereby attenuating fibroblast activation and extracellular matrix (ECM) production in co-culture models. Additionally, CD74 knockdown in fibroblasts downregulated ECM-related genes and inhibited MAPK/JNK signaling, whereas CD74 overexpression exacerbated the fibrotic responses.

conclusionThese findings highlight a novel mechanism by which metformin alleviates CTX-induced ovarian fibrosis by targeting the MIF/CD74 axis to reprogram macrophage-fibroblast communication, suggesting metformin as a protective adjuvant to improve ovarian health during chemotherapy.

Indexed as

Antigens, Differentiation, B-LymphocyteCell PolarityCyclophosphamideHistocompatibility Antigens Class IIIntramolecular OxidoreductasesMacrophage Migration-Inhibitory FactorsMacrophagesMetforminOvaryProtective AgentsAnimalsCoculture TechniquesExtracellular MatrixFemaleFibroblastsFibrosisAntigens, Differentiation, B-LymphocyteCyclophosphamideHistocompatibility Antigens Class IIIntramolecular Oxidoreductasesinvariant chainMacrophage Migration-Inhibitory FactorsMetforminMif protein, mouseNF-kappa BProtective AgentsCD74FibroblastsFibrosisMIFPremature ovarian failure

Identifiers

PMID41225611
PMCPMC12613643

What Socratic 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 Socratic graph.