Common Diabetes Drug Metformin Might Help Fight COVID-19

This content originally appeared in everyday health. It was reissued with permission.

by Lisa’s relationship

Key takeout

• In people with Covid-19, metformin reduced coronavirus levels in the body four times more than placebo tablets.
• There is evidence that metformin can reduce the infectivity of Covid-19.
• Due to limited research, doctors have not yet recommended that people with Covid-19 start taking metformin.

Metformin, a generic drug decades old for type 2 diabetes, could also help treat Covid-19, new research suggests.

University of Minnesota scientists randomly allocated more than 1,300 Covid-19 adults to take metformin or placebo tablets. All participants were subjected to nasal swab tests at viral levels after 1, 5, and 10 days.

Research results published in Clinical Infectious Diseases show that lab tests significantly reduce the amount of Covid-19 virus circulating in the body, reducing the likelihood that viral levels will recover after an initial reduction during treatment.⁽¹⁾

Among the main research findings:

• On average, metformin reduced the amount of virus in the body almost four times as much as placebo tablets.
• People taking metformin were 28% more likely to have undetectable levels of the virus in their bodies either on day 5 or 10 of the study.
• Metformin participants were 32% less likely to experience what is known as rebound when levels of the virus initially decreased but increased again.

“We’ve seen a lot of people who have a lot of trouble with their health,” said Maryland-led author Carolyn Bramante, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota.

How Metformin fights Covid-19

Metformin research was not designed to understand why or how this diabetes treatment can contain the coronavirus. However, drugs block the activity of a protein known as MTOR, says Dr. Bramante. This protein plays a role in cell growth and reproduction, affecting immune responses.

“We hypothesized that inhibition of metformin in MTOR could lead to a reduction in SARS-COV-2,” Bramante said.

However, the possible benefits of metformin as a Covid-19 treatment are not yet clear, and previous studies have yielded conflicting results.

One study of metformin in patients with Covid-19 found that the drug does not significantly reduce the likelihood of hospitalization for severe infections, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). However, the NIH notes that in another study, Covid-19 patients who took metformin were found to be 42% less likely to be hospitalized for severe infections or death.⁽²⁾

Metformin may reduce the infectivity of Covid-19

Still, the results of new research are particularly promising, as reducing the levels of virus circulating in the body reduce so-called virus shedding and release copies of the virus from the body that can infect others, says Mard Sidner, MD, MD, MD, MD, MD, MD, MSPH, co-author of the researcher’s study at Harvard Medical School.⁽³⁾

“The shorter the duration of virus dropout, the shorter the duration of potential contagion and transmission risk,” says Schier.

Should I start taking metformin for Covid-19?

Metformin has a potential intervention against Covid-19, but this use has not yet been recommended. There is not yet sufficient evidence to prescribe metformin to mild people with Covid-19 infections. The NIH recommends that patients hospitalized with severe infections use this drug unless they are part of a clinical trial.⁽⁴⁾

“Based on current data, we also do not recommend using metformin personally for treatment of Covid-19,” Siedner said.