The Rhyothemis princeps Brain Externalization Project

Since March, I have been hoping someone would study whether covid-19 patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) on metformin fare better than those on other types of anti-diabetes medications. Many of the risk factors associated with severe covid-19 (e.g., obesity, diabetes, hypertension, older age) relate to AMPK signalling and metformin, a drug that improves AMPK signalling, has been found to benefit these conditions.  My question has finally been answered  - T2D patients on metformin have a 70% reduced  risk of death as compared with those on other anti-diabetic medications [1,2]. Unfortunately the study did not control for other important factors such as age, degree of blood sugar control, BMI, and time since diagnosis; a future study designed specifically to examine metformin in covid-19 should be conducted that controls for these factors. The study authors discuss the potential role of AMPK signalling in covid-19, delineating a number of possible mechanisms by which it could impact the

From a  discussion with OS on MedCram (which had gone way OT from sex differences relating to covid-19 pathology - link to discussion thread ): re: AMPK bat genetics - not much yet, but there's this one Positive Selection of Cereblon Modified Function Including Its E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Activity and Binding Efficiency With AMPK - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30836149/ Note the same modification is present in both bats and rodents. Hamsters do seem to have some protection from oxidative stress, but they are not particularly long-lived as are bats. They are what's termed 'r selected' - with a life history characterized by high reproductive rate and short life-span. Here's an article that points out that oxidative stress defenses may be tissue specific and that hamsters may not have as much protection in the brain: Oxidative Damage Does Not Occur in Striped Hamsters Raising Natural and Experimentally Increased Litter Size - https://www.ncbi.