Copyright (c) 2024 Revista médico científica
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease of diverse etiology and high prevalence worldwide. In 2019, 463 million cases were estimated, a number that tends to increase by year. Metformin is the most widely used medication in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Vitamin B12 deficiency is a poorly studied adverse effect of the latter. Factors such as age, sex, dose, duration of treatment, among others have been related to the development of this complication.
OBJECTIVE: Collect and synthesize current information about vitamin B12 deficiency related to metformin use, its mechanism and related risk factors.
DESIGN: Review articles, research papers and meta-analyzes from scientific databases such as PubMed, Scielo, Cochrane and Science Direct were collected. The selected articles were published between 2010 to 2020.
CONCLUSION: Screening recommendations for vitamin B12 deficiency in metformin users are not yet clear and do not appear in guidelines. Variables such as long-term usage of metformin and its dosing are related to its development. This patient population benefits from monitoring and even supplementation, depending on the risk.
