Metformin, microbes, and aging
Abstract
The mechanisms underlying the biological activity of metformin, a widely prescribed drug to treat type 2 diabetes, remain elusive. In a recent issue of Cell, Cabreiro et al. report that in C. elegans, metformin indirectly impacts lifespan by altering the methionine metabolism of its microbial partner E. coli (Cabreiro et al., 2013).
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a editorial / letter, done in animal, not in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Metformin as an adjuvant in breast cancer treatment
- Metformin Lysosomal Targeting: A Novel Aspect to Be Investigated for Metformin Repurposing in Neurodegenerative Diseases?
- Aberrant HSF1 signaling activation underlies metformin amelioration of myocardial infarction in mice
- Metformin induces ZFP36 by mTORC1 inhibition in cervical cancer-derived cell lines
- Protein Interaction Network for Identifying Vascular Response of Metformin (Oral Antidiabetic)
- Preventing Long COVID With Metformin
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.