Metformin treatment is known to reduce body weigh and visceral fat.
In a recent study performed by IDIBGI's Obesity and Cardiovascular Risk in Paediatrics research group, children with obesity (mean age 10 years) who were treated with metformin for 24 months (within a randomized, double-blind clinical trial with 850 mg / day of metformin vs. placebo) had higher blood levels of GDF-15 (a protein produced by the digestive tract and kidneys that decreases appetite and metabolic alterations caused by obesity). In addition, higher increases in blood GDF-15 during treatment were associated with higher loss of body weight loss and with reduced visceral fat.
GDF-15 could therefore be a mediator of the beneficial effects of metformin in children with obesity and a potential drug to treat this disease as early as in childhood.