Zbynek Schroner, Vladimír Uličiansky
Metformin is oral antidiabetic agent from the group of biguanides. It came into clinical practice in 1957. Three main developments
in medicine during the 1960s threatened development of metformin as a therapeutic agent (thalidomide
disaster, risk of lactic acidosis, results of UGDP study). Results of UKPDS contributed to renaissance of using of metformin.
At present, metformin is recommended as a first line therapy in type 2 diabetic patients if there are no side effects
or contraindications its using. Metformin is indicated in monotherapy or in combination with other oral antidiabetic
agents, agonists of GLP-1 receptors or with insulin. In spite of using metformin in clinical practice more than 50 years,
there are discovered some clinical news with this drug primarily: using in decreased renal function and stable cardiac
failure and new trends of its using in clinical practice.