Study suggests metformin may protect against geographic atrophy

Metformin, a common drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, may offer protection against age-related macular degeneration (AMD), particularly against its debilitating subtype, geographic atrophy (GA), according to a new study.

In a case-control study, patients older than 60 years with new-onset International Classification of Diseases (ICD) GA were matched with controls without GA, based on factors like age, region, hypertension, and Charlson Comorbidity Index.

The findings revealed that in the full sample of over 20,000 patients, those exposed to metformin had significantly lower odds of developing GA. Specifically, metformin decreased the odds of new-onset ICD coding of GA by 12%. In a subset of patients without diabetes, the protective effect was even more pronounced, with metformin decreasing the odds by 47%.

These results suggest that metformin could potentially serve as a noninvasive alternative to prevent the development of GA.

However, the researchers emphasize the need for additional studies to validate and expand upon their results.

Reference
Moir J, Hyman MJ, Gonnah R, et al. The Association Between Metformin Use and New-Onset ICD Coding of Geographic Atrophy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2024;65(3):23. doi: 10.1167/iovs.65.3.23. PMID: 38497512; PMCID: PMC10950036.

This content is independent editorial sponsored by Astellas. Astellas had no input in the development of this content.