Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42223815›Full record

Trial reportAging clinical and experimental research2026

Comparative effects of metformin and lifestyle therapy on bone metabolism markers: A 6-month pilot, open-label randomized-clinical trial.

Mohammed Almosfer, Shaun Sabico, Kaiser Wani, Malak Nawaz K Khattak, Ibrahim S Almarashad, Nicola Veronese, Nasser M Al-Daghri

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialMulticenter StudyComparative Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Aging clinical and experimental research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

7 authors.

Mohammed AlmosferChair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Shaun SabicoChair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Kaiser WaniChair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Malak Nawaz K KhattakChair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ibrahim S AlmarashadMinistry of Health, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia.
Nicola VeroneseChair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Nasser M Al-DaghriChair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ndaghri@ksu.edu.sa.

Funding

Ongoing Research Funding Program-Research Chairs ORF-RC-2026-14-00
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe metabolic effects of Metformin (Met) and lifestyle modification in early type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) management are well established, but their influence on bone remodeling remains uncertain in under-investigated populations, particularly during early treatment when weight loss and metabolic shifts may transiently affect skeletal turnover. This study examined the short- and mid-term effects of metformin, lifestyle intervention, and their combination on bone turnover markers (BTMs) in treatment-naïve Saudi adults with T2DM.

methodsIn this 6-month pilot, open-label multicenter randomized controlled trial, 114 treatment-naïve Saudi adults with newly diagnosed T2DM (90 males, 24 females; mean age ± SD 53.6 ± 8.4 years; mean BMI 30.3 ± 3.9 kg/m

resultsAfter adjustment for baseline P1NP levels, only the lifestyle group demonstrated a significant reduction in CTX after 6 months (p < 0.05), while osteocalcin, SOST and P1NP showed no significant changes across all interventions. All interventions were associated with improvements in anthropometric and glycemic measures; most pronounced in the combined intervention group.

conclusionIn treatment-naïve adults with T2DM, lifestyle intervention alone was associated with a significant reduction in CTX after 6 months, while metformin-based interventions showed no significant effects on bone turnover markers. These exploratory findings may suggest short-term modulation of bone turnover but should be interpreted cautiously given the pilot design.

Indexed as

Bone and BonesBone RemodelingDiabetes Mellitus, Type 2Hypoglycemic AgentsLife StyleMetforminAdultBiomarkersCollagen Type IFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPeptide FragmentsPilot ProjectsProcollagenBiomarkersCollagen Type IHypoglycemic AgentsMetforminPeptide FragmentsProcollagenprocollagen Type I N-terminal peptideBone turnover markersCTXLifestyle interventionMetforminP1NPRandomized controlled trialType 2 diabetes mellitus

Identifiers

PMID42223815
PMCPMC13437765

What Socratic holds

Texttitle and abstract
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.