Can Metformin Reduce Weight Gain In Pregnancy?

Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is a well-established risk factor for both mother and child.

Now a paper by Argyro Syngelaki and colleagues from the UK, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that the anti-diabetes drug metformin may limit weight gain in pregnant non-diabetic women with obesity and also reduce the incidence of pre-eclampsia.

The researchers randomised 450 pregnant women with a BMI greater than 35 and no diabetes to either metformin (3 g/day) or placebo from weeks 12-18 weeks of gestation till delivery in a double-blind fashion.

Among the 400 women who completed the study, those on metformin gained about 2 Kg less weight than the placebo group.

There was also an almost 75% decrease in the risk of developing preeclampsia.

Despite these effects, metformin did not significantly reduce the incidence of large-for-gestational-age babies or other adverse neonatal outcomes.

While these findings may be somewhat disappointing with regard to outcomes in the offspring, the reduction in pre-eclampsia is impressive and, if confirmed, could well be an interesting use of this compound in high-risk pregnancies.

@DrSharma
Kelowna, BC