Doha: Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have, together with colleagues from Canada and the US reviewed whether metformin is a drug that can protect against diseases other than type 2 diabetes. The review was published in Metabolism, a leading journal dedicated to human metabolism research.
In the late 1950s, metformin was used to treat type 2 diabetes. Today, the drug continues to be the preferred choice for millions of people living with the condition. A collection of encouraging pre-clinical and clinical findings has sparked interest in re-purposing the drug to treat several other diseases, such as COVID-19.
Titled ‘Metformin: Is it a drug for all reasons and diseases?’ The objectives of the review were to evaluate the putative mechanism(s) of action of metformin, analyse the controversial evidence for metformin’s effectiveness in the treatment of diseases other than type 2 diabetes, assess the reproducibility of the data, and reach an informed conclusion as to whether metformin is a drug for all diseases and reasons.
The review concluded that “the primary clinical benefits of metformin result from its insulin-sensitising and anti-hyperglycemic effects that secondarily contribute to a reduced risk of a number of diseases and thereby enhancing healthspan.”
In addition, there is no evidence to suggest that metformin “exerts significant direct anti-inflammatory effects other than indirectly via its positive effects on glucose metabolism.”
The WCM-Q contributing team included Dr. Chris R. Triggle, Dr. Hong Ding, Dr. Isra Marei, Dr. Ross MacDonald, WCM-Q alumnus Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed, and fourth-year medical student Khalifa Bshesh.
International collaborators included Canada-based Kevin Ye, MSc, department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, and Dr. Morley D. Hollenberg, professor, department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, in addition to Dr. Michael A. Hill, interim director at Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center.
