Widely used anti-diabetes drug Metformin Researchers have found that cryptorchidism and the progeny of men taking medication can cause birth defects such as urethral problems.
Dr. Michael Eisenberg
This association appears to be associated with the effect of metformin on sperm development during important preconception periods. Female offspring were unaffected. Previous studies have linked diabetes to the problem of male infertility, but the latest study is the first to show that these problems may be due to treatment rather than the disease itself, The survey result Published in the March 28 issue of Annual report of internal medicine..
“This is the first data to suggest paternal metformin. [use] It may be associated with a child’s birth defect. So it would be premature to start changing clinical practice. “Research, talked Medscape Medical News.. “But if it is confirmed by other groups, it may begin to enter into counseling discussions.”
By eating a nutritious diet, exercising, and maintaining a healthy weight, Eisenberg said, “Improving men’s health, His fertility In the same way. “
For a new study, Eisenberg and his colleagues analyzed the registry records of all 1.25 million births that occurred in Denmark between 1997 and 2016. The registry contained information about birth defects and parental drug prescriptions.
If the father met one or more prescriptions for the drug during the three months prior to conception where fertilized sperm would have been produced, the offspring were considered exposed to the diabetes drug.
The final analysis included 1,116,779 offspring. This is all singleton births for women with no or mandatory diabetes history. High blood pressure -7029 of them were exposed to diabetes drugs through their fathers, and 3.3% (n = 36,585) had one or more major birth defects.
According to the researchers, the incidence of major genitourinary birth defects was 3.4 times higher in male offspring (n = 1451) whose father took metformin.This study found no association with use with birth defects. Insulin.. Sulfonylurea signals appeared, but did not reach statistical significance.
The risks associated with metformin did not appear in men who were prescribed the drug in the years before and after sperm development. It was also not clear that the siblings of a boy with a birth defect were not considered to have been exposed to the drug, the researchers report.
In an editorial accompanying a journal article, reproductive and perinatal epidemiologists Germane Buck Louis, PhD, wrote: Type 2 diabetesThere is an urgent need to support these findings. “
Dr. Germain M. Buckleus, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Welfare at George Mason University in Washington, DC, said the main limitation of the study was the lack of data on how well the men in the study adhered to diabetes. Processing. Nonetheless, she writes, “Clinical guidance is needed to help couples planning to become pregnant weigh the risks and benefits of paternal metformin use compared to other medications.” I am.
The researchers were funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Unintern Med. Published online on March 28, 2022. Overview
Howard Wolinsky is a Chicago medical writer.
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