Metformin attenuates symptoms of osteoarthritis: role of genetic diversity of Bcl2 and CXCL16 in OA

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of metformin versus placebo in overweight patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). In addition, to assess the effects of inflammatory mediators and apoptotic proteins in the pathogenesis of OA, the genetic polymorphisms of two genes, one related to apoptosis (rs2279115 of Bcl-2) and the other related to inflammation (rs2277680 of CXCL-16), were investigated. Methods In this double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial, patients were randomly divided to two groups, one group receiving metformin ( n = 44) and the other one receiving an identical inert placebo ( n = 44) for 4 consecutive months (starting dose 0.5 g/day for the first week, increase to 1 g/day for the second week, and further increase to 1.5 g/day for the remaining period). Another group of healthy individuals ( n = 92) with no history and diagnosis of OA were included in this study in order to evaluate the role of genetics in OA. The outcome of treatment regimen was evaluated using the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaire. The frequency of variants of rs2277680 (A181V) and rs2279115 (938C>A) were determined in extracted DNAs using PCR-RFLP method. Results Our results indicated an increase in scores of pain ( P ≤ 0.0001), activity of daily living (ADL) ( P ≤ 0.0001), sport and recreation (Sport/Rec) ( P ≤ 0.0001), and quality of life (QOL) ( P = 0.003) and total scores of the KOOS questionnaire in the metformin group compared to the placebo group. Susceptibility to OA was associated with age, gender, family history, CC genotype of 938C>A (Pa = 0.001; OR = 5.2; 95% CI = 2.0–13.7), and GG+GA genotypes of A181V (Pa = 0.04; OR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.1–10.5). The C allele of 938C>A (Pa = 0.04; OR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.1–9.8) and G allele of A181V (Pa = 0.02; OR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.1–4.8) were also associated with OA. Conclusion Our findings support the possible beneficial effects of metformin on improving pain, ADL, Sport/Rec, and QOL in OA patients. Our findings support the association between the CC genotype of Bcl-2 and GG+GA genotypes of CXCL-16 and OA.