The content of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17A and TNFα in the blood of patients with type 2 diabetes after therapy with metformin

Currently the world society is extremely worried about the global increase in the number of patients with diabetes on our planet. Annually 4 million people die of this disease, and the cost of its treatment reaches trillions of dollars. A new highly effective oral antidiabetic drug metformin (1,1-dimethylbiguanide hydrochloride) is one of the most common hypoglycemic remedies currently prescribed for the first-line treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, the mechanism of its curative effect is still not clear. The results of our study showed that metformin treatment of patients with newly diagnosed T2D was followed by pronounced normalization of the increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17A and TNFα), inflammation indexes and lymphocyte’s immunophenotype. The obtained data confirm the existing hypothesis about the inflammatory nature of T2D and indicate that the immune system, in particular proinflammatory cytokines, plays a significant role in the mechanism of the curative effect of metformin at T2D.