Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

METABOLIC DISEASES

Metformin action through the microbiome and bile acids

Nature Medicine volume 24, pages 1789–1790 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Metformin functions through a gut microbiome–bile acid–farnesoid X receptor axis to lower glucose in type 2 diabetes, revealing a new therapeutic target in this disease.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Metformin acts through changes in gut B. fragilis and bile acid signaling.

References

  1. Sterne, J. Maroc Med. 36, 1295–1296 (1957).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Karlsson, F. H. et al. Nature 498, 99 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Napolitano, A. et al. PLoS ONE 9, e100778 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Sun, L. et al. Nat. Med. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-018-0222-4 (2018).

  5. Chow, M. D., Lee, Y.-H. & Guo, G. L. Mol. Aspects Med. 56, 34–44 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Chiang, J. Y. L. et al. Dig. Dis. 35, 241–245 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Foretz, M. et al. J. Clin. Invest. 120, 2355–2369 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Mueller, M. et al. J. Hepatol. 62, 1398–1404 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Lindor, K. D. et al. Hepatology 39, 770–778 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Fang, S. et al. Nat. Med. 21, 159–165 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Pathak, P. et al. Hepatology 68, 1574–1588 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA

    Grace L. Guo

  2. Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA

    Grace L. Guo

  3. VA New Jersey Health Care System, Veterans Administration Medical Center, East Orange, NJ, USA

    Grace L. Guo

  4. Center for Pharmacogenetics and Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Wen Xie

  5. Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Wen Xie

Authors
  1. Grace L. Guo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wen Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Grace L. Guo.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Guo, G.L., Xie, W. Metformin action through the microbiome and bile acids. Nat Med 24, 1789–1790 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-018-0273-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-018-0273-6

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing