Metformin News and Research

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Metformin is the active ingredient in a drug used to treat diabetes mellitus (a condition in which the body cannot control the level of sugar in the blood). It is also being studied in the treatment of cancer. It decreases the amount of glucose (a type of sugar) released into the bloodstream from the liver and increases the body’s use of the glucose. Metformin is a type of antidiabetic agent.

Can metformin reduce mortality in diabetic individuals with severe COVID-19?

A new study by researchers in China and the U.S. describes a round-up of the effects of commonly used hypoglycemic drugs on the outcomes of COVID-19 in diabetic patients.

1 Feb 2021

New automated measurement system to assess healthy lifespans using nematodes

A research group from Kumamoto University (Japan) has developed an automated measurement system to assess healthy lifespans using nematodes (C. elegans).

27 Jan 2021

New compound could lead to a new class of diabetes drugs

Research led by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine identified a new compound that might serve as a basis for developing a new class of drugs for diabetes.

27 Jan 2021

Metformin drug decreases mortality rate in COVID-19 patients with type 2 diabetes

Use of the diabetes drug metformin -- before a diagnosis of COVID-19 -- is associated with a threefold decrease in mortality in COVID-19 patients with Type 2 diabetes, according to a racially diverse study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

15 Jan 2021

Machine-learning method can crunch data to find new uses for existing drugs

Scientists have developed a machine-learning method that crunches massive amounts of data to help determine which existing medications could improve outcomes in diseases for which they are not prescribed.

4 Jan 2021

Popular glucose-lowering drug may cause rare diabetes complication in COVID-19 patients

Diabetes is a known risk factor for morbidity and mortality related to COVID-19. In diabetes patients, rare but severe complications, like the potentially lethal condition diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), can arise when illness or certain conditions prevent cells from receiving enough glucose to fuel their functioning.

28 Dec 2020

Researchers demonstrate potential preventive treatment for Crohn's disease

A potential preventive treatment for Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, has been demonstrated in a mouse model and using immune-reactive T cells from patients with Crohn's disease.

21 Dec 2020

UH researcher examines whether early drug intervention can curb weight gain in mentally ill children

A University of Houston pharmacological researcher believes that prescribing the drug Metformin for children and teens as soon as they are diagnosed with mental illnesses, like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, may save them from gaining an enormous amount of weight.

16 Dec 2020

Study shows metformin can significantly reduce COVID-19 death risks in women

University of Minnesota Medical School and UnitedHealth Group researchers found that metformin was associated with significantly reduced COVID-19 death risks in women in one of the world's largest observational studies of COVID-19 patients.

3 Dec 2020

Study: Effect of diabetes medication can be blocked by a molecule from gut bacteria

The action of metformin, the classic drug used to treat diabetes by stabilizing blood sugar, can be blocked by a molecule from the bacteria in our intestines, a University of Gothenburg study shows.

11 Nov 2020

Study shows oxidant hydrogen peroxide can actually slow down cell ageing

At high concentrations, reactive oxygen species - known as oxidants - are harmful to cells in all organisms and have been linked to ageing.

9 Nov 2020

Drug combo for Type 2 diabetes continues to stay effective after two years of treatment

Patients with Type 2 diabetes often take metformin as first-line therapy to help stabilize their blood glucose.

2 Nov 2020

Study offers renewed hope for children suffering from myofibrillar myopathies

Stephen Greenspan and Laura Zah were devastated when they learned their son Alexander had a rare genetic mutation, which causes a deadly neuromuscular disease with no known treatment or cure.

14 Oct 2020

University of Minnesota receives funding to initiate research on diabetes drug as a COVID-19 treatment

University of Minnesota Medical School researchers received funding from the Parsemus Foundation to initiate research on the widely-used diabetes medication, metformin, available globally as an inexpensive generic drug for prevention and treatment for COVID-19.

25 Sep 2020

Researchers identify biomarkers that predict patient’s response to metformin treatment

Metformin is the first-line drug that can lower blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetes patients. One third of patients do not respond to metformin treatment and 5 per cent experience serious side effects, which is the reason many choose to stop medicating.

18 Sep 2020

Combined use of three drugs linked with lower lung cancer incidence and mortality

Combined use of aspirin, statins, and metformin is associated with decreased lung cancer incidence and mortality, according to a study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.

17 Sep 2020

NTU-incubated start-up plans clinical trial of new slow-release pill for Parkinson’s disease

Materials scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a new pill which uses the stomach as a drug reservoir and delivers medicines slowly over time to patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).

16 Sep 2020

Common diabetes drug controls aspects of inflammation in mice

The diabetes drug metformin--derived from a lilac plant that's been used medicinally for more than a thousand years--has been prescribed to hundreds of millions of people worldwide as the frontline treatment for type 2 diabetes.

9 Sep 2020

Study shows fatty liver disease is a significant risk factor for COVID-19 hospitalization

A recent observational study by US researchers reveals that individuals with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and steatohepatitis have increased odds of hospitalization due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19); conversely, metabolic surgery was found to be protective against the admission of infected individuals. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

3 Sep 2020

Study identifies important regulator of neuron function and survival

Scientists studying neuronal energy metabolism found evidence that the loss of an important energy regulator called AMPK in neural stem cells or glial cells called astrocytes causes neuronal death in laboratory rodents.

1 Sep 2020