The impact of metformin on placental ageing in humans and mice
Abstract
Placental ageing refers to the physiological accumulation of a senescent phenotype over a healthy pregnancy. In pregnancies affected by complications such as pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction, placental ageing is notably accelerated and observed at an earlier gestational age. Metformin is used during pregnancy for an increasing variety of indications, including treatment of gestational diabetes, and may have a role in slowing cellular ageing. It is therefore essential to understand the potential impact of metformin on placental ageing. Placental samples (n = 105) were obtained from women with body mass index ≥30 kg/m2 and who were randomized to treatment with metformin or placebo during pregnancy. Ageing was assessed by measuring telomere length, histological examination, and using array-based technologies to investigate gene expression and methylation. Results were validated using isolated human trophoblasts treated in vitro with metformin, and in a complementary mouse model. There were no differences between metformin-exposed and control placentas in terms of telomere length, fibrosis or calcification. There were no differences in placental gene expression or methylation patterns by metformin status. In our mouse model, no genes classically associated with cellular ageing were differentially expressed and no senescence pathway showed evidence of enrichment with metformin treatment. There was no evidence that metformin either slows or accelerates placental ageing…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 105 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Metformin as an adjuvant in breast cancer treatment
- Metformin Lysosomal Targeting: A Novel Aspect to Be Investigated for Metformin Repurposing in Neurodegenerative Diseases?
- Aberrant HSF1 signaling activation underlies metformin amelioration of myocardial infarction in mice
- Metformin induces ZFP36 by mTORC1 inhibition in cervical cancer-derived cell lines
- Protein Interaction Network for Identifying Vascular Response of Metformin (Oral Antidiabetic)
- Preventing Long COVID With Metformin
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.