Metformin reduces autoimmune antibody levels in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In the past few years, an increasing number of studies have proposed the idea of extending the therapeutic range of metformin from traditional hypoglycaemic to autoimmune diseases, and confirmed in a variety of autoimmune diseases. However, whether metformin can be used to treat Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), which is characterised by thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) and thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb), is unknown. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate whether metformin can reduce the levels of TPOAb and TgAb in patients with HT or subclinical hypothyroidism (SH), so as to provide a theoretical basis for metformin treatment of these diseases.
METHODS: PubMed, Web Of Science and Embase were searched for observational studies investigating the changes of TPOAb and TgAb in patients with HT after metformin treatment. Two authors extracted data from eligible studies and classified them as HT and subclinical hypothyroidism subgroups. The calculation was then performed by weighted mean difference (WMD) combined with a fixed-effects model analysis or standard mean difference (SMD) with a random-effects model analysis, based on the measurement of the outcome.
RESULTS: Metformin significantly reduced TPOAb levels and TgAb levels in patients with HT and SH, especially TPOAb (HT: pTPOAb = .009, pTgAb = .046; SH: pTPOAb = .034, pTgAb = .066). In addition, metformin also reduced the levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), homeostasis…
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Evidence Hub reads this as a meta-analysis, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid.
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