How does metformin work?

Metformin is a biguanide, a type of diabetes pill. This site's profile says it blocks one step in the mitochondria (complex I) and switches on AMPK, an energy sensor in cells. That cuts the sugar the liver releases and helps the body respond to insulin. How much each route matters is disputed. The body clears half of it from the blood in 4 to 9 hours. Its molecular weight is 129.2 daltons, or 165.6 as the hydrochloride salt. It has been FDA approved for type 2 diabetes since 1994 and is not approved for aging. DPP and DPPOS followed 3,234 adults at high risk of diabetes for about 21 years (the middle value). Neither metformin nor lifestyle changes cut deaths from any cause, cancer, or heart disease. UKPDS 34 put 342 overweight adults with new type 2 diabetes on metformin, compared with 411 on diet. Over about 10.7 years, deaths from any cause were 36% lower on metformin. That is a diabetes study. MASTERS, in 94 adults over 65, found people on a dummy pill gained more lean mass from 14 weeks of weight training. It is not a longevity approval. A 2013 study in one mouse strain (C57BL/6) reported better health and longer life. The Interventions Testing Program did not find a real lifespan effect in either male or female mice. Those animal findings do not transfer into a human ageing result. This FAQ does not invent a dose. Full record at /compounds/metformin.

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