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Since the1990s , doctor have prescribed the drug metformin to treattype 2 diabetes , but scientist did n’t fully see how it worked .
Now , Modern inquiry replete in one bit of the teaser : Metformin triggers the torso to expel glucose from the bloodstream into the intestines , where bacteria flow on the carbohydrate to make compound that may help assure blood sugar levels .
New research suggests gut bacteria may play a key role in the effects of the diabetes drug metformin.
In the new survey , release March 3 in the journalCommunications Medicine , researchers calculated that Glucophage handling increase how much glucose was release into the gut most four times . That seemed to boost the yield of fatty compounds that help protect the bowel and reduceinflammation .
Multiple nerve pathway
Most enquiry has focused on Glucophage ’s force in the liver , where itboosts how cells respond to insulinandblocks the synthesis of the sugar glucose . But some studies have suggested that the drug also acts on the gut , perhaps byblocking glucose uptakeinto the bloodstream .
" Many citizenry are working on the gut action at law of metformin because if you take metformin orally , the intestines are exposed to very mellow concentrations , " said senior study authorDr . Wataru Ogawa , a aesculapian research worker at Kobe University in Japan . ( Ogawa get enquiry support and lecture fee from themetformin manufacturer Sumitomo Pharma . )
Previously , Ogawa ’s team point that thebody excretes glucoseinto the hollow burrow of the human bowel where food and waste locomotion , get it on as the lumen . This bump in mass with and without diabetes . " It means that this is a physiological routine that human being have , " Ogawa told Live Science .
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Feeding gut bacteria
In the unexampled report , the research worker found that metformin nearly quadrupled the pace of glucose excretory product into the bowel in five people with case 2 diabetes , and they replicated those findings in black eye .
keep glucose out of circulation by directing it to the catgut might directly lower blood sugar levels , but scientist state Live Science they think this explains only part of Glucophage ’s therapeutic effects .
Nicola Morrice , a metformin investigator at the University of Dundee in Scotland who was not demand in the study , say Live Science in an email , " I do not gestate this to be the drug ’s chief mechanism of action . "
Besides drawing simoleons out of the blood stream , egest glucose could also have an indirect effect on blood wampum by fertilize gut bacteria , other expert told Live Science .
Dr. José - Manuel Fernández - Real , a aesculapian research worker at the University of Girona in Spain who was not involve in the study , tell Live Science in an email , " Some bacteria , peculiarly those that thrive on simple sugars , may experience increased growth , while others that rely on complex carbohydrates or fiber fermentation might be less moved . "
A glucose mote has a backbone of six carbon molecule , so to set the pace at which gut bacterium crack down glucose into other molecules , Ogawa had to find a way to keep track of these carbons . His team injected mouse with glucose containing a " hard " isotope , meaning a version of atomic number 6 that acquit an excess neutron . This grant them to draw the heavy carbon as the bacterium transformed glucose into other compounds .
can samples uncover that bacteria in mice cover with metformin had convert the gruelling glucose into short chain fatty acids ( SCFAs ) . " Bacterial coinage that bring on short chain fatty dot are generally ' good ' bacterium , " suggesting metformin ’s effects could potentially foster a levelheaded microbiome , Ogawa said .
Glucophage treatment caused SCFAs contain heavy carbon to increase by just 1 % in pot samples . However , Manuel Vázquez - Carrera , a materia medica research worker at the University of Barcelona who was not involved with the study , evidence Live Science in an e-mail that " most SCFAs are rapidly engulf and utilized rather than excreted . " That means the mensuration was likely an underestimate .
And " even a slight ascent in SCFA yield could heighten catgut roadblock affair , thin out inflammation , and improve insulin sensibility , all of which are beneficial for managing diabetes , " Fernández - Real excogitate .
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The study had a few restriction . First , the researchers did not assess how higher story of catgut SCFAs affected the health of the mice . It also admit " a very small number of participants who were receiving diverge disk operating system of metformin as part of their treatment regime , " Morrice said .
The shiner body of work also need only male rodent , sopossible sex differences in the drug ’s actions were not explored . Beyond testing Glucophage ’s effects on five diabetes patient , Ogawa said he has end up a tumid , gold - standard trial in humans to further contemplate the drug ’s shock on the gut . The researcher have n’t completed the analysis , but as of yet , they have n’t seen any sex differences .
Morrice intimate that next oeuvre could research how metformin affects glucose excretion in mice that have different diets , such as high - fat , high - sugar diets , which are linked to obesity .
This clause is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice .
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