Implication of critical pharmacokinetic gene variants on therapeutic response to metformin in Type 2 diabetes.

AIM: Metformin, an oral hypoglycemic drug is the first line of treatment for Type 2 diabetes individuals. We studied the effect of critical gene single nucleotide polymorphisms  on the glucose lowering effect of metformin.

METHOD: We performed a prospective study on 221 newly diagnosed, treatment-naive Type 2 diabetes subjects. Individuals were started with metformin monotherapy and followed up for 12 weeks.

RESULTS: Our association analysis revealed that SLC22A2 rs316019 and SLC47A2 rs12943590 were significantly associated with metformin drug response across co-dominant and dominant models, respectively. SLC22A2 rs316019 GG and SLC47A2 rs12943590 GA combined genotypes showed maximum average change in HbA1c level.

CONCLUSION: The present study proposes a role of SLC22A2 rs316019 and SLC47A2 rs12943590 in the pharmacokinetic action of metformin.