Dose-response relationship between metformin use and increases in height in children, teens
THURSDAY, Oct. 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Metformin use at high doses seems to be associated with increases in height among children, according to a review published online Sept. 28 in JAMA Pediatrics.
Nicholas Kuzik, from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and colleagues conducted a systematic review of randomized trials examining the effects of metformin use on height among participants younger than 19 years. Data were included from 10 studies, with 562 participants (58.7 percent female).
The researchers observed no significant difference in height changes between the metformin and control groups. On stratification by cumulative metformin dose, compared with the control group, the five studies providing the largest cumulative metformin doses showed a greater increase in height with metformin use (weighted mean difference, 1.0 cm), which was not seen in the five studies providing the lowest doses (weighted mean difference, −0.1 cm).
“Preliminary evidence suggests a dose-response relationship between metformin use and increases in height in children and adolescents compared with a control group,” the authors write.
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