TORONTO – Canadian researchers have found that a drug widely used to treat Type 2 diabetes can help trigger the mechanism that signals stem cells to become brain cells.
   
Brain stem cells and the neural cells they produce play a role in the repair of injured or degenerating brain tissue.
   
The study suggests the drug metformin might be used to treat people with brain injuries _ and potentially even degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s.
   
Principal investigator Dr. Freda Miller of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children says researchers hope to test metformin in people to see if it can spark new brain cell growth that would promote repair and recovery.
   
The team’s study has shown that the diabetes drug promoted neuron development in lab mice and also improved their ability to learn and remember.
    
Miller says that because metformin is known to be a safe drug, trials in a small group of patients with acquired brain injuries could begin within about a year.