Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

The role of metformin in the management of endometriosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Heling Zhang¹, Fang Liu², Yanzhen Huang², Wei Liu³

¹Physical Examination Center, The Fourth Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, China; ²The Eighth People's Hospital of Hengshui, Hengshui, China; ³Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Fourth Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China.

For correspondence:- Wei Liu Email: weiliu20211010@163.com

Accepted: 2 May 2023 Published: 30 May 2023

Citation: Zhang H, Liu F, Huang Y, Liu W. The role of metformin in the management of endometriosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Trop J Pharm Res 2023; 22(5):1115-1120 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v22i5.26

© 2023 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze the activity of metformin in endometriosis, with a view to alleviating disease progression.

Methods: A search was conducted using electronic databases such as CNKI, VIP, CBM, WANFANG, Embase, PubMed, Cochrane, and Web of Science from January 1980 to January 2022 for randomized trials involving any intrapartum fetal surveillance method. A network meta-analysis was performed within a frequentist framework, and it was assessed for quality and network inconsistency of the trials. A ninety-five percent confidence interval (CI) was used to report the relationship between metformin levels and patients with endometriosis.

Results: Eight eligible studies which included 688 patients were evaluated in this meta-analysis. The primary indicators were treatment efficiency and CA-125 level. Metformin significantly increased treatment efficiency (SMD = 3.29, 95 % CI 2.01, 5.40, p < 0.00001). As expected, metformin also reduced the CA-125 level in endometriosis patients as a result (Odds Ratio, OR = -1.20, 95 % CI: -1.40 - 1.00, p < 0.00001).

Conclusion: Metformin alleviates pains caused by endometriosis. However, some studies had scanty information about alleviating clinical symptoms other than basic medical research. More randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm treatment efficacy

Keywords: Metformin, Endometriosis, Meta-analysis