How does metformin work?

Metformin is a biguanide. This site's profile says it inhibits mitochondrial complex I and activates AMPK, reducing hepatic glucose output and improving insulin sensitivity, and that the relative contribution of those routes is disputed. Half-life is 4 to 9 hours in plasma. Molecular weight is 129.2 daltons, or 165.6 as the hydrochloride. It is FDA approved for type 2 diabetes since 1994 and is not approved for ageing. UKPDS 34 randomized 342 overweight adults with new type 2 diabetes to metformin versus 411 on diet: all-cause mortality 36% lower on metformin over a median 10.7 years. That is a diabetes trial. DPP and DPPOS followed 3,234 adults at high diabetes risk for a median 21 years: neither metformin nor lifestyle reduced all-cause, cancer, or cardiovascular deaths. MASTERS, 94 adults over 65, found placebo gained more lean mass from 14 weeks of resistance training. It is not a longevity approval. A 2013 C57BL/6 mouse study reported improved healthspan and lifespan; the Interventions Testing Program did not find a significant lifespan effect in either sex. Those animal findings do not transfer into a human ageing result. This FAQ does not invent a dose. Full record at /compounds/metformin.

Educational use only. This database summarizes published research and is not medical advice. Where a dose appears it is a record of what a trial or clinic ran, or what people describe doing, with its source attached. Nothing here is a recommendation for personal use.

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