A commonly prescribed drug for diabetes, metformin, has a new side hustle.
“We are just skimming the surface of what is possible for metformin,” researcher Jonathan Petrocelli from Salt Lake City’s University of Utah“Metformin may be able to be repurposed for other muscle-loss-related clinical applications, for instance, in recovery from hip or knee surgeries in elderly individuals where there is much inflammation and muscle atrophy,” Petrocelli added.
““We saw two things in our study,” Dr. Micah Drummond, professor of physical therapy and athletic training at the University of Utah College of Health,“When participants took metformin during a bed rest, they had less muscle atrophy,” Drummond said. “During the recovery period, their muscles also had less fibrosis or excessive collagen. That build-up can make it harder for the muscle to properly function.