How Does Metformin Work in the Treatment of Obesity? A Review

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-048-0_4How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Obesity; Metformin; Off-Label Medication

Abstract

The rising prevalence of obesity is associated with a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Because it can induce weight loss, metformin, a long-used drug for treating diabetes, is used as an off-label medication for the treatment of obesity. However, the mechanism underlying this effect of metformin is unclear, especially in people without diabetes. This review discusses the recent evidence on the mechanisms of action of metformin in the treatment of obesity. Articles related to the topic were identified using search engines such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. We included articles that were published in English between January 1, 2015, and June 30, 2021. The ability of metformin to induce weight loss may involve several mechanisms: the neurohormonal pathway, the metabolic pathway, or gut microbiome activity. The most recent evidence relates to the effects of metformin on the gut microbiome. Metformin may inhibit the growth of non-butyrate-producing bacteria—such as Escherichia coli—and may promote the growth of butyrate-producing bacteria. Butyrate increases insulin sensitivity, thereby lowering insulin level and suppressing appetite via the incretin system. Several hypotheses regarding metformin’s antiobesity effects have been proposed, but further investigations are needed, especially on the effectiveness and tolerability of metformin for euglycemic people with obesity.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Muhammad Salman Shalahuddin
AU  - Riana Rahmawati
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/12/19
TI  - How Does Metformin Work in the Treatment of Obesity? A Review
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Cardiovascular Diseases (ICCvD 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 18
EP  - 24
SN  - 2468-5739
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-048-0_4
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-048-0_4
ID  - Shalahuddin2022
ER  -