Metformin for prevention of weight gain in patients with schizophrenia treated with second-generation antipsychotics: a meta-analysis

Objective To assess whether metformin prevents body weight gain in patients with schizophrenia who are treated with second-generation antipsychotics(SGA). Methods The randomized controlled trials(RCT) about metformin for prevention of weight gain with SGA for schizophrenia from January 1998 to July 2012 were selected in the Cochrane Library, Medline, Wanfang Data, CNKI and VIP. Two reviewers independently screened the literatures, extracted the data, and evaluated the methodological quality.Than meta-analyses were conducted by using RevMan 5.1 software and Stata 12.0 software. Results The total 7 RCTs were selected and 394 patients were involved.The results of meta-analyses showed that the efficacy of the metformin group was superior to that of the control group in lessen body mass (MD=-3.07, 95%CI: -4.17, -1.98, Z=5.50, P<0.01), BWI (MD=-1.21, 95%CI: -1.50, -0.92, Z=8.18, P<0.01) with significant differences. Conclusion Metformin addition therapy is effective in attenuating SGA-induced weight gain. Key words: Metformin; Senond-generation antipsychotics; Schizophrenia; Body mass; Meta-analysis