Metformin in COVID-19: a magical role beyond the hyperglycemia
Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as an aggressive viral infection in the last few years. Initially reported in the Wuhan area of the People’s Republic of China, it soon emerged across the globe. Researchers confront a worrying situation to rapidly develop effective strategies to comba...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Open Exploration
2024-07-01
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| Series: | Exploration of Drug Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.explorationpub.com/uploads/Article/A100855/100855.pdf |
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| author | Gaurav Kumar Chaubey Rahul Dilawari Radheshyam Modanwal Sharmila Talukdar Asmita Dhiman Manoj Raje |
| author_facet | Gaurav Kumar Chaubey Rahul Dilawari Radheshyam Modanwal Sharmila Talukdar Asmita Dhiman Manoj Raje |
| author_sort | Gaurav Kumar Chaubey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as an aggressive viral infection in the last few years. Initially reported in the Wuhan area of the People’s Republic of China, it soon emerged across the globe. Researchers confront a worrying situation to rapidly develop effective strategies to combat this novel infection and its long-term aftereffects. To date, there have been myriad reports ranging from the repurposing of the classical antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to several other antiviral and anti-bacterial agents like remdesivir, favipiravir, and most recently azithromycin, which has entered clinical use in many countries for combating COVID-19 infections. Several studies have highlighted the nexus between COVID-19-associated morbidity and diabetes in a wide-ranging class of subjects ranging from pediatric cases to adults and patients with other co-morbidities. Metformin is a mainstay in the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D). It is safe, inexpensive, and effective and does more than merely control blood sugar levels. Important metabolites that encourage blood clotting and inflammation are also suppressed by metformin. Pro-inflammatory molecules are linked to obesity and T2D. Both are major risk factors for aggravated COVID-19. These characteristics gave rise to a hypothesis that metformin may find use as an efficacious treatment for COVID-19 especially if it decreases the inflammatory molecules that fuel the COVID-19 virus-induced effects. In this review, we attempt to elucidate the role of classical anti-diabetic medicine metformin in the treatment of COVID-19 infections by highlighting the pharmacological role of this drug during elevated glucose levels and insulin resistance. We examine how COVID-19 has correlations to diabetic physiology and thereby the possibility of repurposing metformin for COVID-19 treatment. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-172a9989b1694a61ab6684c1b9bdf385 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2836-7677 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-07-01 |
| publisher | Open Exploration |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Exploration of Drug Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-172a9989b1694a61ab6684c1b9bdf3852025-02-08T03:30:12ZengOpen ExplorationExploration of Drug Science2836-76772024-07-012442844810.37349/eds.2024.00055Metformin in COVID-19: a magical role beyond the hyperglycemiaGaurav Kumar Chaubey0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6518-0714Rahul Dilawari1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9208-6045Radheshyam Modanwal2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1524-4695Sharmila Talukdar3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4530-2171Asmita Dhiman4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6415-6819Manoj Raje5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7513-6098CSIR-IMTECH, Sector 39A, Chandigarh 160036, IndiaCSIR-IMTECH, Sector 39A, Chandigarh 160036, IndiaCSIR-IMTECH, Sector 39A, Chandigarh 160036, IndiaCSIR-IMTECH, Sector 39A, Chandigarh 160036, IndiaCSIR-IMTECH, Sector 39A, Chandigarh 160036, IndiaCSIR-IMTECH, Sector 39A, Chandigarh 160036, IndiaCoronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as an aggressive viral infection in the last few years. Initially reported in the Wuhan area of the People’s Republic of China, it soon emerged across the globe. Researchers confront a worrying situation to rapidly develop effective strategies to combat this novel infection and its long-term aftereffects. To date, there have been myriad reports ranging from the repurposing of the classical antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to several other antiviral and anti-bacterial agents like remdesivir, favipiravir, and most recently azithromycin, which has entered clinical use in many countries for combating COVID-19 infections. Several studies have highlighted the nexus between COVID-19-associated morbidity and diabetes in a wide-ranging class of subjects ranging from pediatric cases to adults and patients with other co-morbidities. Metformin is a mainstay in the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D). It is safe, inexpensive, and effective and does more than merely control blood sugar levels. Important metabolites that encourage blood clotting and inflammation are also suppressed by metformin. Pro-inflammatory molecules are linked to obesity and T2D. Both are major risk factors for aggravated COVID-19. These characteristics gave rise to a hypothesis that metformin may find use as an efficacious treatment for COVID-19 especially if it decreases the inflammatory molecules that fuel the COVID-19 virus-induced effects. In this review, we attempt to elucidate the role of classical anti-diabetic medicine metformin in the treatment of COVID-19 infections by highlighting the pharmacological role of this drug during elevated glucose levels and insulin resistance. We examine how COVID-19 has correlations to diabetic physiology and thereby the possibility of repurposing metformin for COVID-19 treatment.https://www.explorationpub.com/uploads/Article/A100855/100855.pdfcovid-19sars-cov-2metforminblood glucoseinsulin resistanceoxidative stressgut microflorahydroxychloroquine |
| spellingShingle | Gaurav Kumar Chaubey Rahul Dilawari Radheshyam Modanwal Sharmila Talukdar Asmita Dhiman Manoj Raje Metformin in COVID-19: a magical role beyond the hyperglycemia Exploration of Drug Science covid-19 sars-cov-2 metformin blood glucose insulin resistance oxidative stress gut microflora hydroxychloroquine |
| title | Metformin in COVID-19: a magical role beyond the hyperglycemia |
| title_full | Metformin in COVID-19: a magical role beyond the hyperglycemia |
| title_fullStr | Metformin in COVID-19: a magical role beyond the hyperglycemia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Metformin in COVID-19: a magical role beyond the hyperglycemia |
| title_short | Metformin in COVID-19: a magical role beyond the hyperglycemia |
| title_sort | metformin in covid 19 a magical role beyond the hyperglycemia |
| topic | covid-19 sars-cov-2 metformin blood glucose insulin resistance oxidative stress gut microflora hydroxychloroquine |
| url | https://www.explorationpub.com/uploads/Article/A100855/100855.pdf |
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