Metformin doesn’t just manage diabetes—it reshapes copper, iron, and zinc levels in the body, a potential clue to its broad protective effects.
Metformin, the world’s most
prescribed diabetes drug, is known for benefits far beyond blood sugar control,
yet its precise workings have remained a mystery.
Researchers at Kobe
University have now provided the first clinical evidence that the drug alters
metal levels in the blood, lowering copper and iron while raising zinc, which
may help explain its protective effects.
Metformin: More
Than Just a Diabetes Drug
Metformin is the most commonly prescribed medication
for diabetes worldwide. In addition to lowering blood sugar, it has been linked
to a wide range of positive health effects, including protection against
tumors, inflammation, and atherosclerosis. Yet, despite more than 60 years of
use, scientists still do not fully understand how it works, which has slowed
efforts to design even more effective treatments for these conditions.
Investigating
Metals in Diabetes Patients
According to Kobe University endocrinologist Wataru
Ogawa, “It is known that diabetes patients experience changes in the blood
levels of metals such as copper, iron, and zinc. In addition, chemical studies
found that metformin has the ability to bind certain metals, such as copper,
and recent studies showed that it is this binding ability that might be
responsible for some of the drug’s beneficial effects. So, we wanted to know
whether metformin actually affects blood metal levels in humans, which had not
been clarified.”
To explore this question, Ogawa and his colleagues
conducted a study involving roughly 200 diabetes patients at Kobe University
Hospital. Half of the participants were taking metformin, while the other half
were not. The researchers compared blood serum samples from both groups,
measuring levels of copper, iron, and zinc, as well as indicators of possible
metal deficiencies.
First Clinical
Evidence of Metal Shifts
In the journal BMJ Open Diabetes
Research & Care, the Kobe University team has now
published the first clinical evidence of altered blood metal levels in patients
taking metformin. They found that patients who take it have significantly lower
copper and iron levels and higher zinc levels. Ogawa says, “It is significant
that we could show this in humans. Furthermore, since decreases in copper and
iron concentrations and an increase in zinc concentration are all considered to
be associated with improved glucose tolerance and prevention of complications,
these changes may indeed be related to metformin’s action.”
Comparing
Metformin and Imeglimin
Recently, Japan has approved the use of imeglimin, a
new diabetes drug that is a derivative of metformin but that should not be able
to bind metals the same way as its parent. “Imeglimin is thought to have a
different method of action, and we are already conducting studies to compare
the effects the two drugs have,” says Ogawa.
Towards Smarter
Diabetes Treatments
It is not just about understanding the current drugs,
however. Ogawa explains the bigger picture, saying: “We need both clinical
trials and animal experiments to pinpoint the causal relationship between the
drug’s action and its effects. If such studies progress further, they may lead
to the development of new drugs for diabetes and its complications by properly
adjusting the metal concentrations in the body.”
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