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Teaching an old dog new tricks: metformin induces body-weight loss via GDF15

Nature Metabolism volume 1, pages 1171–1172 (2019)Cite this article

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GDF15 is an anorectic hormone that relays systemic stress to the brain. In the current issue of Nature Metabolism, Day et al. elegantly demonstrate that the frontline anti-diabetes drug, metformin, lowers body weight by increasing circulating levels of GDF15.

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Fig. 1: Body-weight loss in response to metformin treatment depends on GDF15 release.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, Helmholtz Diabetes Center, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany

    Maximilian Kleinert & Timo D. Müller

  2. Section of Molecular Physiology, Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Maximilian Kleinert

  3. German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Neuherberg, Germany

    Timo D. Müller

  4. Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapy, Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Eberhard Karls University Hospitals and Clinics, Tübingen, Germany

    Timo D. Müller

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  1. Maximilian Kleinert
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  2. Timo D. Müller
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Correspondence to Timo D. Müller.

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Competing interests

T.D.M. receives research support from Novo Nordisk and Sanofi-Aventis. The funders had no role in the writing of the manuscript or in the decision to publish this manuscript. M.K. declares no conflicts of interest.

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Kleinert, M., Müller, T.D. Teaching an old dog new tricks: metformin induces body-weight loss via GDF15. Nat Metab 1, 1171–1172 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-019-0153-5

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