Glumet DC Mechanism of Action

Pharmacology: Metformin hydrochloride is a biguanide hypoglycaemic agent used in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Its mode of action is not clear. It does not stimulate insulin release but does require that some insulin be present in order to exert its hypoglycaemic effect.
Possible mechanisms of action include delay in the absorption of glucose from the gastrointestinal tract, an increase in insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake into cells and inhibition of hepatic gluconeogenesis.
Metformin does not usually lower blood-glucose concentrations in non-diabetic subjects.
Pharmacokinetics: Metformin hydrochloride is slowly and incompletely absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. After an oral dose of metformin, Tmax is reached in 2.5 hours. Absolute bioavailability of a single 500 mg or 850 mg dose is approximately 50 to 60% in healthy subjects, although this is reduced somewhat if taken with food.
After oral administration, metformin absorption is saturable and incomplete. The non-absorbed fraction recovered in faeces was 20-30%.
Following absorption, plasma protein binding is negligible and it is excreted unchanged in the urine. The plasma elimination half-life is reported to range from about 2 to 6 hours after oral administration. It is assumed that the pharmacokinetics of metformin absorption is non-linear.
At the usual metformin doses and dosing schedules, steady state plasma concentrations are reached within 24 to 48 hours and are generally less than 1 μg/mL.