Metformin
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Lowers blood sugar mainly by telling the liver to release less glucose, while also reducing how much sugar the gut absorbs and helping the body use insulin more effectively to clear sugar from the blood.
How it works
Metformin helps people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar mainly by cutting back on how much sugar the liver releases into the bloodstream. It also reduces the amount of sugar absorbed from food in the gut and helps muscles and other tissues use insulin more effectively to pull sugar out of the blood. Because it works this way, rather than pushing the pancreas to make more insulin, it's less likely to cause blood sugar to drop too low. Exactly how metformin does this at the molecular level is still debated among researchers, and the drug's official prescribing information doesn't pin it down to one specific target.
What it’s used for
Metformin is prescribed, alongside diet and exercise, to help adults and children age 10 and up with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar. It's often the first medicine tried and can be used alone or combined with other diabetes medications, including insulin. It is not used for type 1 diabetes.
- Mechanism
- AMPK activator, reduces hepatic glucose output
- Drug class
- Small molecule
- Therapeutic area
- Metabolic / Diabetes