[Thank you, Christopher, for sending us this study which shows that
500 mgs. metformin three times a day results in two important benefits:
a. lower circulating blood insulin, which results in less insulin
resistance and less damage to the circulatory system by insulin... and...
b. higher DHEAs, which results in more muscle, higher IGF-1, and higher
level of testosterone in both men and women (especially good for women).
It also shows that a high blood insulin level results in lower DHEAs,
which is another reason not to want high blood insulin levels.

Dr. Ward Dean has recommended metformin to his patients for many years,
and now Life Extension also recommends metformin to lower resistance to
insulin, and as an anti-aging therapy. I am not opposed to the use of
insulin if you have insulin resistance, but in my opinion there is nothing
quite like insulin to lower glucose levels, which also results in less
insulin resistance. (I use 3 iu "R" Humulin (regular), or Humalog (fast
speed) before each meal, and maybe 2 iu after each meal, and this gives
me excellent control of glucose.) I do not know if it also results in
a higher level of DHEAs, but based on this study, I think it does too,
because my fasting insulin level is extremely low, below 3.0, which is
better than perfect. - Ellis]

= = = =

A clinical study of metformin given 500 mg TID to non-obese men resulted in
strikingly lower insulin levels and higher DHEAS:

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1994 Mar;78(3):549-54. Related Articles, Links


Effects of a reduction in circulating insulin by metformin on serum
dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in nondiabetic men.

Nestler JE, Beer NA, Jakubowicz DJ, Beer RM.

Department of Internal Medicine, Medical College of Virginia/Virginia
Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298.

Evidence suggests that hyperinsulinemic insulin resistance may reduce
serum levels of the adrenal steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) sulfate
in humans. This study was conducted to assess the influence of
physiological concentrations of insulin on serum adrenal steroid levels
by lowering circulating insulin in nondiabetic men through the
administration of the biguanide metformin.

A total of 28 nondiabetic men were studied. The study group consisted of
16 obese and hypertensive men, and the control group of 12 nonobese and
normotensive men. The men were studied at baseline and after the oral
administration of 500 mg metformin, 3 times daily, for 21 days.

Metformin administration resulted in significant reductions in serum
insulin levels and concurrent increases in serum DHEA sulfate levels in
both groups of men. The mean fasting serum DHEA sulfate concentration
rose by 48% in the obese hypertensive men (from 5.9 +/- 0.8 to 8.7 +/- 0.7
mumol/L; P < 0.02) and by 80% in the nonobese normotensive men (from 3.5
+/- 0.5 to 6.3 +/- 0.9 mumol/L; P < 0.05).

When the results from both groups were combined, changes in serum DHEA
sulfate levels (i.e. day 21 value minus day 0 value) correlated positively
with baseline fasting serum insulin levels (r = 0.44; P = 0.02; n = 28).

Moreover, changes in fasting serum DHEA sulfate levels correlated inversely
with changes in fasting serum insulin levels (r = -0.38; P < 0.05; n = 28).

These findings lend further credence to the idea that insulin acts as a
physiological regulator of DHEA sulfate metabolism and lowers circulating
DHEA sulfate concentrations in men.


PMID: 8126125 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]