Metformin treatment improves PTSD symptoms, finds study
New Orleans, LA: Metformin use may help in improving post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among veterans, suggests a recent study in the ADA journal Diabetes.
There is a high prevalence of PTSD among US veterans for which there is no availability of effective psychotropic medications. About 25% of the veterans are diabetes patients for which metformin is the first-line treatment. Metformin is known to improve neurodegeneration outcomes, there is no evidence on the association between metformin use and PTSD-related symptom relief. This study by Shuian Liu from New Orleans, LA, and colleagues aimed to examine the association between metformin and a clinically meaningful reduction in PTSD symptoms (≥20 points reduction PTSD checklist for DSM-5 {PCL-5}) score)) among veterans with PTSD using data from Veterans Health Administration.
The participants were divided into two groups -- metformin cohort and control cohort. The metformin cohort was defined as first metformin use after a recorded PTSD diagnosis with a PCL-5 score ≥33 (i.e., clinical cut-score). The control cohort (never used metformin) was selected by propensity score 1:1 matching on the likelihood of initiating metformin. The association between metformin exposure and improvement in PCL-5 scores was assessed using multivariable Cox proportional regression.
The study included a total of 7950 veterans with confirmed PTSD they were comparable on the baseline demographics and medical conditions between metformin and control PSM-matched cohorts with a median follow-up 1.2 years in both cohorts.
Key findings of the study include:
- The baseline PCL-5 score was 56.2±11.6 and 56.5±11.7 in metformin and control cohort, respectively.
- The metformin-treated cohort was more likely to have a clinically meaningful reduction in PTSD symptoms (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR): 1.31), compared the control cohort.
- Furthermore, patients on metformin ≥2 years were 22% more likely to reduce PTSD symptoms (aHR: 1.22), compared with metformin exposure <2 years.
Based on the findings the authors concluded that -- Metformin exposure may be beneficial to PTSD symptoms among veterans.
Abstract -- Association between Metformin Treatment and Improved Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is published in American Diabetes Association (ADA) journal Diabetes.
