Men who took metformin, a diabetes treatment, while their sperm developed were more likely to have children with major birth defects – particularly genital birth defects in boys – according to a study published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal.
“Further research should replicate these findings and clarify the causation,” said researchers. Results of the study indicated that offspring of men who were prescribed metformin had a 40% higher risk of developing birth defects.
Diabetes is also known to reduce sperm quality, said researchers. They analyzed data from approximately 1.12 million offspring born in Denmark from 1997 to 2016 to produce the study results.
CNN reported that offspring included in the study were born to mothers 35 years old or younger and fathers 40 years old or younger. Babies born to mothers with diabetes were excluded.
“Offspring were considered exposed if their father filled [one] or more prescriptions for a diabetes drug during the development of fertilizing sperm,” researchers said. “Sex and frequencies of major birth defects were compared across drugs, times of exposure, and siblings.”
Men who took metformin before or after the three-month maturation period for sperm did not have an increased risk of having a baby with birth defects, said CNN.
According to the Mayo Clinic, metformin is used to treat high blood sugar levels that are caused by a type 2 diabetes. It is marketed under the following names: Fortamet, Glucophage, Glucophage XR, Glumetza and Riomet.
For people with type 2 diabetes “insulin produced by the pancreas is not able to get sugar into the cells of the body where it can work properly,” the Mayo Clinic explained. “Using metformin alone, with a type of oral antidiabetic medicine called a sulfonylurea, or with insulin, will help to lower blood sugar when it is too high and help restore the way you use food to make energy.”
An article published in the Frontiers in Endocrinology journal in 2020 said that metformin, “is one of the most commonly used drugs to treat type 2 diabetes,” and that it has been in use for nearly 100 years. It is is able to decrease plasma glucose levels.
Authors of the recent study said that “diabetes medications, such as metformin, have glucose-independent effects on the male reproductive system.”
There are currently no U.S. Food and Drug Administration warnings against the use of metformin by men planning to have children, CNN reported.
In an article that was also published in the Annals of Internal Medicine Tuesday Germaine M. Buck Louis, a doctor who was not involved in the study, called for a more conclusive study into the relationship between diabetes medication and birth defects
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