Higher mitochondrial DNA copy number is associated with metformin-induced weight loss

Background: Considerable variability exists in response to metformin with few effective biomarkers to guide the treatment. Here we evaluated whether whole blood derived mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN) is a biomarker of metformin response as measured by glucose reduction or weight loss.

Methods: Using data from the trial of Metformin (n = 304) and AcaRbose (n = 300) in Chinese as the initial Hypoglycaemic treatment (MARCH), we examined the association between mtDNA-CN and two metformin response outcomes of HbA1c reduction and weight loss. The acarbose arm was used as a comparator group. Whole blood mtDNA-CN was estimated by deep whole genome sequencing with adjustments for confounders. Multiple linear regression and repeated measurement analyses were used to evaluate the association between mtDNA-CN and drug response outcomes.

Results: Here we show that glucose reduction is not significantly associated with mtDNA-CN and in either treatment arm. In the metformin arm, each increase of 1 SD in mtDNA-CN is significantly (P = 0.006) associated with a 0.43 kg more weight loss. Repeated measurement analysis shows that after 16 weeks of metformin monotherapy, patients in the top tertile of mtDNA-CN consistently lost 1.21 kg more weight than those in the bottom tertile (P < 0.001). In comparison, mtDNA-CN is not significantly associated with acarbose-induced weight loss.

Conclusions: Patients with higher mtDNA-CN are likely to lose more weight upon metformin treatment, suggesting mtDNA-CN as a potential novel biomarker for more effective weight management in type 2 diabetes.