{"id":399246,"date":"2025-11-23T14:10:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/399246\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T14:10:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:10:19","slug":"after-60-years-diabetes-drug-found-to-unexpectedly-affect-the-brain-sciencealert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/399246\/","title":{"rendered":"After 60 Years, Diabetes Drug Found to Unexpectedly Affect The Brain : ScienceAlert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Metformin<\/a> has been prescribed to people with type 2 diabetes<\/a> to manage blood sugar for more than 60 years, but scientists haven’t been exactly sure how it works. A recent study suggests it works directly in the brain, which could lead to new types of treatment.<\/p>\n

Researchers from the Baylor College of Medicine in the US identified a brain pathway<\/a> that the drug seems to work through, in addition to the effects it has on biological processes in other areas of the body.<\/p>\n

“It’s been widely accepted that metformin lowers blood glucose primarily by reducing glucose output in the liver<\/a>. Other studies<\/a> have found that it acts through the gut,” says<\/a> Makoto Fukuda, a pathophysiologist at Baylor.<\/p>\n

“We looked into the brain as it is widely recognized as a key regulator of whole-body glucose metabolism. We investigated whether and how the brain contributes to the anti-diabetic effects of metformin.”<\/p>\n

Related: New Diabetes Pill Works as Well as Ozempic For Weight Loss, Trial Finds<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Previous work<\/a> by some of the same researchers had identified a protein in the brain called Rap1<\/a> as having an impact on glucose metabolism, particularly in a part of the brain called the ventromedial hypothalamus or (VMH).<\/p>\n

In their 2025 study, tests on mice showed metformin traveling to the VMH, where it helps tackle type 2 diabetes<\/a> by essentially turning off Rap1.<\/p>\n

Watch the clip below for a summary of their findings;<\/p>\n

\"YouTube frameborder=”0\u2033 allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen><\/p>\n

When the researchers bred mice without Rap1, metformin then had no impact on a diabetes-like condition<\/a> \u2013 even though other drugs did. It’s strong evidence that metformin works in the brain, through a different mechanism than other drugs.<\/p>\n

\"ComputerComputer artwork of the brain showing the hypothalamus (red). (Science Photo Library\/Canva)<\/p>\n

The team was also able to take a close look at the specific neurons metformin was changing activity in. Further down the line, that could lead to more targeted treatments that take aim at these neurons specifically.<\/p>\n

“We also investigated which cells in the VMH were involved in mediating metformin’s effects,” says<\/a> Fukuda.<\/p>\n

“We found that SF1 neurons are activated when metformin is introduced into the brain, suggesting they’re directly involved in the drug’s action.”<\/p>\n

\"MetforminDirect brain injections of metformin lowered blood glucose in mice. (Lin et al., Sci. Adv., 2025)<\/p>\n

Metformin is safe<\/a>, long-lasting, and relatively affordable. It works by reducing the glucose produced by the liver and increasing how efficiently the body uses insulin, helping to manage the symptoms<\/a> of type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n

Now we know it very probably works through the brain, as well as the liver and the gut.<\/p>\n

Clearly, this needs to be shown in human studies as well, but once that’s established, we might be able to find ways to boost metformin’s effects and make it more potent.<\/p>\n

\"Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Breakthrough Diabetes Treatment May Deliver Insulin Through a Skin Cream<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This also ties into other interesting studies that have found the same drug can slow brain aging<\/a> and improve lifespan<\/a>. With a better understanding of how metformin works, we may see it used for a broader range of purposes in the future.<\/p>\n

“This discovery changes how we think about metformin,” says<\/a> Fukuda. “It’s not just working in the liver or the gut, it’s also acting in the brain.”<\/p>\n

“We found that while the liver and intestines need high concentrations of the drug to respond, the brain reacts to much lower levels.”<\/p>\n

The research was published in Science Advances<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An earlier version of this article was published in September 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Metformin has been prescribed to people with type 2 diabetes to manage blood sugar for more than 60…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":399247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[210,352,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-399246","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-msft-content","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115599418712724654","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}