Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Apr 12, 2025 18 hours, 13 minutes ago
Medical News: A new Turkish study has uncovered a potentially game-changing benefit of metformin, the widely prescribed drug for type 2 diabetes. Researchers found that the drug may play a powerful role in preventing heart failure in diabetic patients, even if they currently show no symptoms of heart issues.
Metformin Found to Offer Strong Heart Protection in Diabetics
The team of scientists from the University of Health Sciences in Turkey—specifically from the Haseki Training and Research Hospital Department of Internal Medicine and the Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital Department of Endocrinology in Istanbul—discovered that patients taking metformin had significantly lower levels of a specific heart stress biomarker known as brain natriuretic peptide or BNP. High levels of BNP are often linked to heart failure and other cardiac problems.
This
Medical News report looks closely at the data behind the findings and explains why metformin’s impact on BNP levels may represent a new frontier in heart disease prevention for millions of people with type 2 diabetes.
The Link Between BNP and Heart Health
BNP is a natural hormone secreted by the heart’s ventricles when they are stretched and stressed. It is often used by doctors to detect and monitor heart failure, as high BNP levels signal excessive strain on the heart. Typically, a BNP reading below 100 pg/mL is considered normal. Values above 400 pg/mL are strongly suggestive of heart failure.
In this study, the researchers wanted to explore if common diabetes drugs—especially metformin—might influence BNP levels, even in patients who have not been diagnosed with heart failure.
How the Study Was Conducted
The research team reviewed medical records of 6,299 patients who visited a diabetes clinic between January and October 2024. Of these, 252 patients who met specific inclusion criteria were selected for analysis. These patients were all over 18 years old, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and had BNP levels below 400 pg/mL—ensuring none of them had active heart failure.
Patient demographics, lab test results, medications, and comorbidities like hypertension and high cholesterol were all recorded. BNP levels were carefully measured using advanced chemiluminescence techniques.
What the Results Showed
The results were striking. Patients who used metformin had significantly lower average BNP levels (33.68 pg/mL) compared to those not on metformin (49.18 pg/mL). This pattern suggests that metformin users experienced less stress on the heart muscle. Interestingly, pioglitazone, another diabetes drug, also showed a similar though slightly weaker trend of reduced BNP levels.
In contrast, other popular antidiabetic medications like SGLT2 inhibitors, DPP-4 inhibitors, sulfonylureas, and insulin did not show any statistically significant impact on BNP levels.
Further statisti
cal analysis showed that age, metformin use, and hemoglobin levels were independently associated with BNP levels. The older the patient, the higher the BNP level tended to be. Meanwhile, those with higher hemoglobin levels generally had lower BNP readings, suggesting better heart health.
Gender Differences and Other Observations
The study also found that women had higher BNP levels than men, which researchers believe could be tied to hormonal differences and variations in hemoglobin levels between genders. However, when hemoglobin was taken into account, the gender difference became statistically insignificant—implying that lower hemoglobin in women might be the actual driver behind their higher BNP levels.
Interestingly, factors like blood sugar control (HbA1c levels), cholesterol levels, kidney function, and liver enzyme levels did not significantly affect BNP levels. This suggests that BNP changes might be more directly tied to heart strain rather than general metabolic control.
What Makes Metformin So Special
Metformin, the most widely used drug for type 2 diabetes, has long been valued for its ability to lower blood glucose and improve insulin sensitivity. But recent research has hinted at a deeper cardioprotective effect. It is believed to work by reducing inflammation, decreasing oxidative stress in heart cells, and improving endothelial (blood vessel) function.
Previous concerns about metformin potentially causing lactic acidosis in heart failure patients have largely been dismissed by newer research. In fact, it is now considered safe and possibly beneficial for people with or at risk for heart failure.
This study adds another layer to the story: showing that even in diabetic patients without diagnosed heart failure, metformin may be quietly helping the heart by keeping BNP—and therefore myocardial stress—low.
Final Thoughts and Conclusions
This new research highlights an often-overlooked benefit of metformin—its ability to reduce cardiac stress in people with diabetes. The implications are far-reaching. If validated by larger and long-term studies, this could help re-establish metformin not only as the first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes but also as a valuable tool in preventing heart disease.
With cardiovascular complications being the number one cause of death among diabetics, even modest improvements in heart health could lead to dramatic public health benefits. The researchers emphasized that selecting diabetes medications should not be based solely on blood sugar control, but should also take into account their impact on heart health, especially in high-risk individuals.
The study findings were published on a preprint server and are currently being peer reviewed.
https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202503.1420/v1
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Medical News.
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