Arguing for Metformin ' s Effects on Life Expectancy to be Due to Suppression of Excessive Inflammation

Researchers have been arguing for some years now that metformin improves life span via suppression of excessive inflammation. Metformin, it has to be said, has terrible, unreliable, very mixed animal data when it comes to slowing aging. Plus that one human study in diabetic patients in which life expectancy was very modestly increased. So it seems to me that progress in understanding what is going on under the hood is largely of academic interest at this point in time. The effect size is just not large enough to be a medical focus. If suppression of inflammation and extended healthy lives are the goals on the table, then senolytic therapies to clear out senescent cells and their inflammatory signaling look much more promising. Metformin is a widely prescribed blood sugar-lowering drug. It is often used as an early therapy (in combination with diet and lifestyle changes) for type 2 diabetes. Metformin works by lowering glucose production in the liver, reducing blood glucose levels that, in turn, improve the body's response to insulin. But scientists have also noted that metformin possesses anti-inflammatory properties, though the basis for this activity was not known. Researchers have now identified the molecular mechanism for the anti-inflammatory activity of metformin and, in mouse studies, found that metformin prevents pulmonary or lung inflammation in animals infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. But while clinical studies suggested metf...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs