Metformin treatment reduces motor and neuropsychiatric phenotypes in the zQ175 mouse model of Huntington disease

Abstract

Huntington’s disease: Diabetes drug limits disease-related degeneration in mice Metformin, an existing drug for diabetes, shows promise in alleviating symptoms of early Huntington’s disease in mouse models. Huntington’s disease is a genetic disorder that results in the gradual deterioration of motor skills and cognitive ability. It is caused by a defect in a single gene that then encodes a mutant huntingtin protein, which aggregates and kills brain cells. Growing observational evidence suggests that patients undergoing metformin treatment for diabetes type II exhibit fewer symptoms of age-related disease, as well as Huntington’s disease. Rafael Vázquez-Manrique at Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, València and Pascual Sanz at IBV-CSIC and CIBERER, València, and scientists across Spain used metformin to treat motor and neuropsychiatric symptoms in a Huntington’s mouse model. They found that metformin alleviated symptoms by actively reducing huntingtin levels, dispersing aggregations and limiting brain inflammation.