Clinical Study

Effects of Metformin on the Regulation of Free Fatty Acids in Insulin Resistance: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

Table 1

Characteristics of patients included in the metformin and the placebo groups at baseline and six weeks after treatment. Data are given as mean (SEM) unless stated otherwise.

Metformin ( )Placebo ( )
UntreatedTreatedUntreatedTreated

Gender (M/F)5/55/4
Age (years)49 (3)53 (3)
BMI (kg/m2)32.0 (1.4)32.0 (1.4)30.4 (1.4)30.3 (1.4)
WHR1.03 (0.02)1.02 (0.02)0.96 (0.03)0.95 (0.03)
Systolic BP (mmHg)137 (4)132 (4)143 (7)139 (4)
Diastolic BP (mmHg)88 (3)87 (3)90 (4)86 (5)
Fasting FFA (mmol/L)0.61 (0.08)0.44 (0.06)#0.58 (0.07)0.55 (0.07)
Total cholesterol (mmol/L)5.4 (0.5)4.8 (0.4)$5.8 (0.5)5.4 (0.4)
HDL cholesterol (mmol/L)1.12 (0.11)1.14 (0.07)1.22 (0.17)1.21 (0.16)
Plasma triglycerides (mmol/L)1.91 (0.30)1.69 (0.30)2.04 (0.36)2.08 (0.36)
Apo A1 (mg/L)1.27 (0.09)1.17 (0.04)1.36 (0.10)1.22 (0.10)
Apo B (mg/L)1.05 (0.11)0.91 (0.09)1.05 (0.10)1.04 (0.10)
Fasting plasma insulin (mE/L)19.2 (5.2)18.2 (6.7)14.4 (3.2)14.3 (2.5)
Fasting plasma glucose (mmol/L)8.4 (1.0)6.8 (0.5)*7.1 (1.1)7.1 (0.7)
HOMA-IR6.4 (2.6)5.4 (2.4)*4.4 (1.0)4.4 (0.8)
GlyHb (%)6.8 (0.4)6.4 (0.3)&6.0 (0.4)6.3 (0.3)

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Abbreviations: BMI: body mass index; WHR: waist-to-hip ratio; BP: blood pressure; FFA: free fatty acid; Apo: apolipoprotein; HOMA-IR: homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance.