Study: Metformin Improves Outcomes in Patients with COPD and Diabetes

Metformin reduces the risk of all-cause and exacerbation-related hospitalization in adults with coexisting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and diabetes, according to a new study.

The results were presented at the CHEST Annual Meeting 2016.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Could Metformin Protect Against CVD in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes?
Study: Metformin Works in the Gut, Not Bloodstream
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Patients with COPD often have skeletal muscle dysfunction, which may be caused by mitochondrial dysfunction. Because metformin can improve mitochondrial function, the researchers examined whether metformin could improve all-cause or COPD-related hospitalization rates among patients with COPD and diabetes.

To conduct their study, the researchers examined 5614 Medicare beneficiaries with coexisting COPD and diabetes who started an anti-diabetic medication between 2008 and 2010.

Patients who switched medications or initiated an additional medication during the study period were excluded from analysis.

Overall, 3110 patients used metformin, 1110 used sulfonylureas, 936 used insulin (the reference agent), and 435 used other medications.

After a 2-year follow-up, metformin was associated with a lower risk for all-cause and COPD-related hospitalization, and sulfonylureas and other drugs were associated with a lower risk of all-cause hospitalization but not COPD-related hospitalization compared with those on insulin.

Participants in the insulin group were more likely to be on oxygen, had more hospitalizations in the prior year, had more cardiovascular comorbidities, and were more likely to be receiving hemodialysis.

“Our study showed that [patients] with coexisting [COPD] and diabetes mellitus who received metformin were less likely to be admitted to the hospital for all-cause and COPD-related hospitalization as compared to those on insulin during the 2-year follow-up period,” the researchers concluded.

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Bishwakarma R, Lin Y-L, Kuo Y-F, Sharma G. Metformin and health care utilization in patients with coexisting COPD and diabetes. Paper presented at: CHEST Annual Meeting 2016; October 22-26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA. http://publications.chestnet.org/data/Journals/CHEST/935778/08996.pdf. Accessed October 25, 2016.