Metabolic effects of buformin on the isolated perfused rat hindlimb during electrical stimulation

Summary Oral pretreatment of normal rats with a blood sugar lowering dose of buformin (150 mg/kg per day) increases lactate production of contracting skeletal muscle tissue without any additional stimulating effect on the enhanced glucose uptake. These date together with those presented elsewhere ( Strohfeldt and Strubel-Obermaier, 1976 ) demonstrate that biguanides act unspecifically on skeletal muscle tissue including inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation. A useful drug action on skeletal muscle tissue is in doubt.