Portal:Medicine/Selected article/28, 2007

Metformin (INN; trade names Glucophage, Diabex, Diaformin, Fortamet, Riomet, Glumetza and others) is an anti-diabetic drug from the biguanide class of oral antihyperglycemic agents. Other biguanides include the withdrawn agents phenformin and buformin. Metformin is the most popular anti-diabetic drug in the United States and one of the most prescribed drugs overall, with nearly 35 million prescriptions filled in 2006 for generic metformin alone.

The biguanide class of anti-diabetic drugs originates from the French lilac (Galega officinalis), a plant known for several centuries to reduce the symptoms of diabetes mellitus. (More...)