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Researchers recently reported the use of metformin for reversing amenorrhea associated with atypical antipsychotics and for promoting weight loss and improving insulin resistance in patients receiving these medications (JW Psychiatry Jul 9 2012). Now, investigators have examined whether metformin might also promote neurogenesis.
The researchers exposed adult murine and human neural stem cells in culture to metformin, which acts as an adenosyl-monophosphate kinase activator. Metformin stimulated an atypical protein kinase C–CREB-binding protein (aPKC–CBP) pathway that regulates neurogenesis. This activation was associated with metformin-induced neogenesis in murine cortical and adult forebrain precursor and olfactory bulb cells and in human f…