A major global health concern that affects people of all ages is asthma. Nearly 235 million people are thought to have asthma globally, with high-income nations having the highest frequency and rising incidence. More severe and frequent asthma episodes as well as worse asthma management may be linked to MetS.
As a possible therapy for MetS, metformin has been proposed; this medication may lower airway responsiveness, improve asthma management, and minimize ED visits. However, the majority of the data that is currently available focuses only on people with diabetes. Thus, this study was carried out by Hossein Mehravaran and colleagues to examine the effects of metformin in individuals who both had asthma and MetS.
Metformin hydrochloride or an identical placebo was administered to 2 groups of individuals (55 in each group) who had both asthma and MetS at the same time. After 3 months, the patients were evaluated for clinical outcomes, pulmonary function test parameters, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, asthma control tests (ACTs), frequency of asthma episodes, emergency department visits, and hospitalization rate.
ACT score, O2 saturation, anthropometric indices, blood sugar management, CRP, and lipid profile all improved statistically significantly in the metformin group as compared to the placebo group (all P < 0.05).
Furthermore, after adjusting for the confounding effects of baseline parameters and sex, the multivariate analysis revealed that the metformin group had significantly higher forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) (P = 0.014, and effect size = 5.6%) and forced vital capacity (FVC) (P = 0.001, and effect size = 9.2%).
The metformin group showed a tendency to have lower rates of hospitalization, ED visits, and severe asthma episodes, but the effects were not statistically significant (P > 0.05).
Overall, the findings demonstrated that giving metformin to individuals who have both asthma and MetS simultaneously improves the patients' lipid profile indices, body composition parameters, short- and long-term blood sugar management, and vital signs. Additionally, it leads to increases in ACT score, FEV1, and FVC, all of which contribute to improved pulmonary function, and it significantly lowers CRP levels, an inflammatory marker.
Source:
Mehravaran, H., Bahar, A., Hajimohammadi, F., Kashi, Z., Aliyali, M., Varshoei, F., Alizadeh-Navaei, R., Yazdani Charati, J., Kashefizadeh, A., Gheibi, M., & Ghadirzadeh, E. (2025). Metformin effects on respiratory and metabolic outcomes in asthma and metabolic syndrome: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Annals of Medicine and Surgery (2012), 87(8), 4861–4869. https://doi.org/10.1097/MS9.0000000000003552
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