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Plants have been used in medicine for tens of thousands of years, and they are still a vital source for treatments today. The rich history of the medicinal properties of many plants allows scientists to build upon old ideas and refine them with more research. The flowering plant Galega officinalis is no exception, having been used since medieval times as a tea to treat snake bites and plague. In more recent years, it has been used as a key component in metformin, the most prescribed glucose-lowering agent to manage type 2 diabetes.
Galega officinalis has many common names, including goat’s rue, French lilac, Italian fitch, professor weed, and faux-indigo. Its origins and uses date back centuries, but the most renowned derivative of it for health research really began in the late 1910s. It was found to be rich in the compound guanidine, which was discovered to be good at lowering blood glucose levels in rabbits. It began to be prescribed to humans to reduce symptoms that came with type 2 diabetes; however, many people reported cases of liver toxicity after chronic use. Given the limited science and knowledge of guanidine known at this time, combined with the increasing popularity of insulin after its discovery in 1921, guanidine-linked treatments for diabetes were discontinued for a time.
While looking for an agent to combat malaria in the 1940s, researchers rediscovered and gave another look to guanidine and its glucose-lowering properties. With new technology and funding for research stemming from World War II, new derivatives of guanidine from plants like Galega officinalis were being considered, and the first metformin medication was introduced in France in 1957. Researchers soon realized they could derive guanidine into a less potent but lower-risk option. Metformin didn’t receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for diabetes treatment until two decades later in 1994. Now, it’s the most prescribed oral blood glucose-lowering agent to manage type 2 diabetes and is listed on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines as one of the world’s most effective, safe, and cost-effective medications for priority health needs.
Diabetes treatment and research are essential to continue supporting. More than 11% of the U.S. population has diabetes, with more than 90% of those cases being type 2. Diabetes is the seventh-leading cause of death in the U.S. Despite its promising beginnings, metformin wasn’t developed until decades after the first discovery of guanidine in Galega officinalis plants. More time, technology, knowledge, and research were needed, as is often the case with scientific research. In fact, most Americans, regardless of political affiliation, support this, with 85% believing that the federal government should support basic scientific research that advances the frontiers of knowledge, even if there is no immediate benefit. Over time, humans try more, discover more, and have the ability to learn more.
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