Cited by 1,150Metabolism, Diabetes, and CancerGenetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model OrganismsDiabetes Treatment and Management

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 82 of the 83 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 50 of the 74 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Metformin as a Tool to Target Aging

Open access

Abstract

Aging has been targeted by genetic and dietary manipulation and by drugs in order to increase lifespan and health span in numerous models. Metformin, which has demonstrated protective effects against several age-related diseases in humans, will be tested in the TAME (Targeting Aging with Metformin) trial, as the initial step in the development of increasingly effective next-generation drugs.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This perspective argues that metformin engages multiple aging-related mechanisms and reviews evidence from model organisms and human studies to support testing it as an aging-targeted intervention. It describes the planned TAME trial, which would test metformin in older adults using a composite outcome of age-related diseases.

Key findings

  • Metformin affects several pathways linked to aging, including reduced insulin/IGF-1 signaling, mTOR inhibition, mitochondrial complex I inhibition, AMPK activation, lower reactive oxygen species and DNA damage, and effects on inflammation, autophagy, and senescence. In C. elegans it extends lifespan partly by altering microbial folate and methionine metabolism, though the paper notes no human evidence for that mechanism.
  • Animal lifespan results are mixed. Metformin increased mean lifespan by about 40% in female outbred mice, by 14% when started early (with weaker effects when started later), by 8% in a breast cancer model, by about 20% in a Huntington’s disease model only in males, and by 4%–6% across different mouse breeds; healthspan indices improved by about 30%. Some studies found no lifespan extension, including Drosophila at 1 mM and rats at a dose roughly 15 times the human dose, which the paper suggests may reflect toxicity.
  • Human evidence includes a 31% reduction in type 2 diabetes incidence versus placebo over about 3 years in the Diabetes Prevention Program; in UKPDS, about 20% lower cardiovascular risk (p = 0.032) and 42% lower diabetes-related death (p = 0.017); in HOME, a 40% reduction in a cardiovascular composite over 4 years; a meta-analysis reporting 31% lower cancer incidence and 34% lower cancer mortality; a 51% lower risk of cognitive impairment in the Singapore Longitudinal Aging Study; and a 36% reduction in all-cause mortality in UKPDS long-term follow-up (p = 0.011). Negative trials included GIPS III and CAMERA.
  • The proposed TAME trial would enroll 3,000 subjects aged 65–79 at about 14 U.S. centers and measure time to a composite outcome including cardiovascular events, cancer, dementia, and mortality, along with functional and geriatric endpoints.

Methods

  • This is a narrative review/perspective that synthesizes evidence from model organisms, randomized clinical trials, and observational studies to justify metformin as an initial aging-targeted drug.
  • It describes the design of the planned TAME randomized controlled trial: 3,000 participants, ages 65–79, approximately 14 centers, and a composite outcome of cardiovascular events, cancer, dementia, and mortality plus functional and geriatric endpoints.
  • No primary data analysis, systematic search strategy, or meta-analytic method is reported in the paper.

Limitations

  • The paper states that it remains unclear whether metformin acts through multiple pathways or whether its effects are downstream of a single primary mechanism; that not all animal studies show lifespan extension, with high doses possibly toxic; that human observational data cannot exclude residual bias and confounding; that no definitive trials have tested cognition; and that TAME has not yet been conducted.
  • Evident from the text: as a review/perspective, the evidence is selected rather than systematically appraised, and the TAME design description lacks details on dosing, follow-up duration, and statistical analysis. Human benefits are drawn largely from diabetic or high-risk populations, which limits generalization to broader aging populations.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.cmet.2016.05.011

Cites

82 of 82 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

50 of 74 cited sources checked · 39 supported · 1 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

Show all 38 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 20
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 7
26 of 26
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Metformin's aging-related mechanisms observed in model organisms are conserved in humans.

    “Metformin is a drug approved to treat diabetes but appears to target a number of aging-related mechanisms.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    A composite outcome of cardiovascular events, cancer, dementia, and mortality can serve as a measure of aging per se in TAME.

    “Rather than study the effects of metformin on each separate condition, we will measure time to a new occurrence of a composite outcome that includes cardiovascular events, cancer, dementia, and mortality.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Age-related diseases share a common aging process such that a single drug can delay them together.

    “If metformin can target and delay aging, its administration should be associated with fewer age-related diseases in general, rather than merely the decreased incidence of a single disease.”
3 of 3

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Trial described as unpublished despite a published citation

    Minor

    The text calls the Luchsinger et al. trial unpublished, but its reference lists results of a randomized clinical trial published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease in 2016.

1 of 1

Citations

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Metadata

Authors
Barzilai, N., Crandall, J. P., Kritchevsky, S. B., & Espeland, M. A.
Affiliations
  • Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US)
  • Wake Forest University Health Sciences (US)
Corresponding author
Barzilai, Nir
Venue
Cell Metabolism
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-06
Volume
23
Issue
6
Pages
1060-1065
ISSN
1550-4131 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2422981416
Cited by
1,096
References
83
Citations by year
2026: 129 · 2025: 117 · 2024: 101 · 2023: 108 · 2022: 105 · 2021: 131 · 2020: 127 · 2019: 110 · 2018: 97 · 2017: 59 · 2016: 11
FWCI
8.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell Metabolism (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Aging (P01AG021654, R24AG044396, P01AG027734, P30AG038072, R37AG018381, R01AG046949, P30AG021332)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (U01DK048349)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Metabolism, Diabetes, and Cancer
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Aging › Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Treatment and Management
Keywords
metformin, aging, lifespan extension, healthspan, age-related diseases, anti-aging drugs, drug repurposing
MeSH terms
Aging, Animals, Clinical Trials as Topic, Humans, Longevity, Metformin, Models, Biological, Models, Animal

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