ReviewThe Biochemical journal2015
Repurposing metformin: an old drug with new tricks in its binding pockets.
Review in The Biochemical journal, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 137 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effectiveness of the Treatment With Dapagliflozin and Metformin Compared to Metformin Monotherapy for Weight Loss on Diabetic and Prediabetic Patients With Obesity Class III
"Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study to Assess the Effect of Metformin, an Activator of AMPK, on Cognitive Measures of Progression in Huntington's Disease Patients"
Who cites it
137 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Metformin for preventing the progression of chronic kidney disease.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024 · on this mapPooled it
- Short-term exposure to a clinical dose of metformin increases skeletal muscle mitochondrial HExperimental gerontology · 2022Trial
- Metformin as a Metabolic Reprogramming Interface in Host-Pathogen and Bone Microenvironment Crosstalk: A Dual-Target Strategy Against Antimicrobial Resistance and Osteoporotic Bone Loss.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Molecular Insights into the Interaction Between Metformin and Caffeine: The Time-Dependent Antagonism and Modulation of p53 Signaling in Cancer Cells.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Molecular mechanisms of metformin action: From metabolic effects to lifespan extension and healthspan promotion.Journal of medical biochemistry · 2026Article
- Biguanides are associated with decreased early mortality and risk of acute kidney injury in hospitalised patients with COVID-19: a nationwide retrospective cohort study in Japan.Clinical and experimental nephrology · 2026Article
- Article
- Reframing metformin as a gut-targeted glucose-lowering therapy: Mechanistic insights and translational relevance.Molecular metabolism · 2025Article
- Beyond diabetes: harnessing the power of metformin in burn care.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Review
- Article
- Diabetes Mellitus and the Prostate: The Odd Pairing.Cureus · 2025Review
- Understanding the Role of Adipokines in Cardiometabolic Dysfunction: A Review of Current Knowledge.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Sex differences in the orofacial antinociceptive effect of metformin and the role of transient receptor potential channels.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Copper Dyshomeostasis and Diabetic Complications: Chelation Strategies for Management.Mini reviews in medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- Metformin Impairs Linsitinib Anti-Tumor Effect on Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Pharmacology of Aging:Aging biology · 2024Article
- Metformin ameliorates neuroinflammatory environment for neurons and astrocytes during in vitro and in vivo stroke and tobacco smoke chemical exposure: Role of Nrf2 activation.Redox biology · 2024Article
- Metformin, Cognitive Function, and Changes in the Gut Microbiome.Endocrine reviews · 2024Review
- The combination of metformin and high glucose increased longevity ofFrontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Metformin use is associated with decreased asthma exacerbations in adolescents and young adults.Pediatric pulmonology · 2024Article
77 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Improvements in healthcare and nutrition have generated remarkable increases in life expectancy worldwide. This is one of the greatest achievements of the modern world yet it also presents a grave challenge: as more people survive into later life, more also experience the diseases of old age, including type 2 diabetes (T2D), cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer. Developing new ways to improve health in the elderly is therefore a top priority for biomedical research. Although our understanding of the molecular basis of these morbidities has advanced rapidly, effective novel treatments are still lacking. Alternative drug development strategies are now being explored, such as the repurposing of existing drugs used to treat other diseases. This can save a considerable amount of time and money since the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and safety profiles of these drugs are already established, effectively enabling preclinical studies to be bypassed. Metformin is one such drug currently being investigated for novel applications. The present review provides a thorough and detailed account of our current understanding of the molecular pharmacology and signalling mechanisms underlying biguanide-protein interactions. It also focuses on the key role of the microbiota in regulating age-associated morbidities and a potential role for metformin to modulate its function. Research in this area holds the key to solving many of the mysteries of our current understanding of drug action and concerted effects to provide sustained and long-life health.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.