Pdx-1 and Insulin Gene Expression in Embryonic and Neonatal Pancreas of Mice: Effects of Metformin Treatment

Pancreatic and duodenal homeobox-1 (Pdx-1) plays an important role in mediating the effects of glucose-regulating hormones such as insulin and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) (1, 2). The research paper entitled “The effects of metformin on Pdx-1 and insulin gene expression in mouse embryonic and neonatal pancreas” published by Hashemitabar et al. in 2010 (3) reports the effects of metformin on Pdx-1 and insulin gene expression in the pancreas of mouse embryos and neonates. The data showed that doubling the dose of metformin from 75 mg/kg to 150 mg/kg and even increasing the dose to 250 mg/kg did not affect Pdx-1 and insulin gene expression in both embryonic and neonatal pancreas. Interestingly, the authors found that compared to metformin-treated embryos, metformin-treated neonates showed up-regulation of Pdx-1 and insulin gene expression. This finding is interesting and suggests a possible maternal role in preventing the effects of metformin on Pdx-1 and insulin gene expression in mouse embryonic pancreas. The study design was novel; however, some vital data that could have further strengthened the findings of this study were missing. Firstly, the authors divided the pregnant C57BL/6 mice into 2 groups (control: saline-treated and experimental: metformin-treated).