They explained that while it is known that diabetes reduces semen quality increasingly during reproductive years, the association of diabetes medications, such as metformin, a drug with a glucose-dependent effect on the male reproductive system, with birth defects in offspring are unknown.
The findings, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, was carried out in Denmark by the researchers who followed over one million births between 1997 and 2016, through a registry-based cohort study.
The researchers explained that they considered men who used the medication three months before their wives conceived, noting that it is how long it takes for a sperm to fully mature for fertilization.
they also compared the risk of major birth defects in babies based on paternal exposure to the diabetes medication. The study observed only children who were born to women under 35 and men under 40. Babies born to women with diabetes were excluded.
It was discovered that out of the 1, 116, 779 offspring examined by the researchers, the frequency of birth defects in babies born to men who had a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, but who were not taking metformin was 3.1 per cent lower than the recorded 4.6 per cent in children with paternal exposure to metformin during the preconception period.
Also, the study discovered that among the metformin-exposed offspring, genital birth defects, all in boys, were more common.
It was also noted that babies who had paternal metformin exposure also had the tendency to have parents who were older and of a lower socioeconomic status.
However, the leader of the research, Maarten J. Wensin, an epidemiologist from the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, and Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics, University of Southern Denmark, said they “did not have data on other aspects of diabetes, such as glycaemic control or medication compliance”
In an editorial published on the study in the journal, a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist at George Mason University, Germain Buck Louis, who was not part of the research, said there is evidence from past studies to suggest that altered testosterone levels may be an underlying mechanism raising concern about the antiandrogenic activity of oral diabetes pharmacologic agents, including metformin, which explains the recent finding findings.
Source: HealthWise
