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Review
. 2023 May 15;14(5):585-593.
doi: 10.4239/wjd.v14.i5.585.

Association between metformin and vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with type 2 diabetes

Ehsan Sayedali  1 , Ali Erdinç Yalin  1 , Serap Yalin  2
Affiliations
Review

Association between metformin and vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with type 2 diabetes

Ehsan Sayedali et al. World J Diabetes. .

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is still one of the most common diseases worldwide, and its prevalence is still increasing globally. According to the American and European recommendations, metformin is considered a first-line oral hypo-glycemic drug for controlling type 2 DM (T2DM) patients. Metformin is the ninth most often prescribed drug in the world, and at least 120 million diabetic people are estimated to receive the drug. In the last 20 years, there has been increasing evidence of vitamin B12 deficiency among metformin-treated diabetic patients. Many studies have reported that vitamin B12 deficiency is related to the ma-labsorption of vitamin B12 among metformin-treated T2DM patients. Vitamin B12 deficiency may have a very bad complication for the T2DM patient. In this review, we will focus on the effect of metformin on the absorption of vitamin B12 and on its proposed mechanisms in hindering vitamin B12 absorption. In addition, the review will describe the clinical outcomes of vitamin B12 deficiency in metformin-treated T2DM.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus; Metformin; Type 2 diabetes mellitus; Vitamin B 12 deficiency; Vitamin B12.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic diagram of how metformin can affect the absorption of vitamin B12.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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