La metformina es un medicamento utilizado principalmente para tratar la diabetes tipo 2 que ayuda a controlar los niveles de glucosa en sangre.

Científicos de los Estados Unidos identificaron que se le podría dar otro uso al medicamento también. En hombres con cáncer de próstata, el fármaco podría producir un efecto similar al que genera el ejercicio intenso en el cuerpo.

Es porque la metformina eleva los niveles de una molécula clave para el equilibrio energético y el peso, aun cuando los pacientes no realizan actividad física.

El trabajo fue realizado por investigadores del Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, en Miami, un centro especializado en cáncer. Lo publicaron en la revista científica EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Qué motivó a hacer el estudio

Muchos de los pacientes con cáncer de próstata sienten fatiga, dolores o presentan limitaciones físicas que hacen difícil mantener una rutina de ejercicios.

La terapia hormonal, utilizada para combatir el cáncer de próstata, puede alterar el metabolismo y provocar aumento de peso, resistencia a la insulina y riesgo cardiovascular.

Por eso, los científicos buscaron alternativas para ayudar a quienes no pueden moverse con facilidad durante el tratamiento.

El medicamento logró aumentar los niveles de N-lactoil-fenilalanina (Lac-Phe), una molécula que el cuerpo fabrica cuando necesita más energía.

Lac-Phe aparece cuando el lactato, que se produce al hacer esfuerzo, se une a la fenilalanina, un aminoácido que forma parte de las proteínas.

Estudios previos en animales y humanos ya habían relacionado altos niveles de Lac-Phe con menor apetito y mejor control del peso.

Señales del cuerpo, caminos de la medicina

Los investigadores observaron que la metformina elevó Lac-Phe en pacientes sin actividad física, y que los valores alcanzados eran parecidos a los que se ven luego de una sesión exigente de ejercicios.

Este dato llamó la atención porque muestra que ciertas rutas metabólicas pueden activarse incluso cuando no hay movimiento.

El estudio aclara que tomar metformina no reemplaza los beneficios del ejercicio físico, pero ayuda a entender cómo funcionan los mecanismos internos del metabolismo.

El objetivo es explorar si existen formas de proteger la salud metabólica en pacientes que no pueden hacer ejercicio debido a los tratamientos o a otros problemas.

La investigación también comprobó que los niveles de Lac-Phe elevados por la metformina no se vincularon con cambios en el antígeno prostático específico (PSA), el análisis de sangre que se usa para seguir la evolución del cáncer de próstata.

Esto significa que, aunque la molécula se relaciona con el metabolismo y el peso, no afecta directamente al tumor.

Metformina, una aliada inesperada

Además de Lac-Phe, la metformina elevó otra sustancia llamada GDF-15, aunque la relación de esta molécula con los cambios de peso fue menos clara.

El equipo dirigido por Marijo Bilusic, oncólogo y profesor en la Universidad de Miami, señaló que la combinación del trabajo de laboratorio y estudios clínicos permitió unir los resultados moleculares con datos de pacientes reales.

La doctora Priyamvada Rai, experta en biología tumoral, explicó que mantener la salud metabólica puede ser clave para que los pacientes toleren mejor los tratamientos y se sientan mejor en su vida diaria.

En tanto, el profesor David Lombard, del área de epigenética, agregó que estudiar el metabolismo celular ayuda a comprender el impacto de la metformina en personas con cáncer de próstata.

Los resultados se confirmaron en distintos contextos clínicos y también en pacientes tratados con otras terapias metabólicas.

Esto sugiere que Lac-Phe podría reflejar un ajuste más amplio del metabolismo, no solo un efecto exclusivo de la metformina.

La potencial utilidad de la metformina en pacientes con cáncer de próstata abre una nueva línea de investigación sobre cómo los medicamentos pueden apoyar el metabolismo cuando la actividad física no es posible o resulta muy difícil.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) thinks that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter has been lined up to be her father’s eventual successor, lawmakers noted on Monday, according to Reuters.

The NIS indicated to lawmakers that its analysis stems from what it characterized as «credible intelligence» that it had gathered, Reuters reported, citing briefings by ruling and opposition party members following a closed-door parliamentary meeting.

Video footage posted last month showed Kim and his daughter on a tank.

KIM JONG UN APPEARS WITH TEENAGE DAUGHTER AT LIVE-FIRE ROCKET TEST IN NORTH KOREA

The South Korean agency indicated that the scene of the girl driving a tank was meant to emphasize her supposed military aptitude and counter doubts concerning a female successor, lawmakers noted, according to the outlet.

North Korean state-run media KCNA published photos of the North Korean leader and his daughter with a tank last month, following prior images of the girl utilizing firearms, Reuters reported.

The daughter is thought to be about 13 years old and named Ju Ae.

IRAN’S WAR AGAINST THE US AND ISRAEL IS BEING FUELED BY NORTH KOREAN WEAPONS, EXPERT WARNS

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter, center, tries out a new pistol at a factory producing pistols and other light arms at an undisclosed place in North Korea Wednesday, March 11, 2026.  (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

The outlet reported that ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won indicated that the scenes are meant to pay «homage» to the North Korean leader’s military appearances years ago when he was being set up to succeed his father as regime leader.

​Korea Institute for National Unification analyst Hong Min said the tank scene is not enough to determine that she has been established as her father’s successor, pointing out that she appeared with her father rather than independently, unlike her father’s independent military appearances as he was being groomed to take the helm.

NORTH KOREA TESTS SOLID-FUEL MISSILE ENGINE AS KIM BOOSTS THREAT TO US MAINLAND

This picture taken on December 20, 2025, and released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on Dec. 23, 2025, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) and his daughter Ju Ae (L) inspecting the Milyong Hotel, which was recently completed in the Samjiyon tourist district of Ryanggang Province. (KCNA VIA KNS / AFP via Getty Images)

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North Korea is one of the world’s only nuclear-armed nations.

California’s delayed, over-budget high-speed train from Los Angeles to San Francisco is running fast in only one direction: Rising costs to even get rolling, which are now estimated to be $126 billion.

«Today, we estimate with the right optimization just over $125 billion,» California High Speed Rail Authority board member Anthony Williams told CBS’s «60 Minutes» on Sunday. «I think $126 billion is the current estimate for that.»

That is nearly four times the $33 billion price tag presented to voters in 2008, making the long-delayed project a black eye for Democratic-run California, derided as the latest political example of «waste» in deep-blue America and a «train to nowhere.»

«We’re now in 2026: There are no trains; there’s no track laid; it was a complete bait and switch,» Rep. Vince Fong, R-Calif., told «60 Minutes,» saying the project «needs to stop.»

NEWSOM TOUTS CALIFORNIA’S NUMEROUS LEGAL FIGHTS WITH TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IN FINAL STATE OF THE STATE

«The California high-speed rail nightmare is the probably quintessential example of government waste and mismanagement.»

California’s long-troubled high-speed rail project is facing renewed scrutiny after state Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin acknowledged that many of its critics have a point.

«There were mistakes made,» Omishakin told CBS. «Some of the criticisms on this project, I think, are very fair.»

TRUMP ADMIN UNCOVERS ‘STAGGERING’ $8.6 BILLION IN SUSPECTED CALIFORNIA SMALL BUSINESS FRAUD

«I don’t think the voters fully understood, and neither did we in the public sector, what it was going to take to actually get this project delivered,» Omishakin added.

Taking aim at California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, President Donald Trump called California’s project «the worst cost overrun, I’ve ever seen,» a statement he has in the past reserved for Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell’s Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C.

«This administration is working to usher in a Golden Age of Transportation,» Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CBS in a statement. «That vision includes high speed rail and we’re exploring opportunities to efficiently build that infrastructure in America.

NEWSOM’S FAILED LEADERSHIP HAS LET CALIFORNIA BECOME A LAND OF FRAUD AND SCAMS

«What this administration won’t stand for is boondoggle projects like Newsom’s Train to Nowhere that wasted billions in taxpayer dollars yet delivered nothing to the American people,» Duffy said. «Under President Trump, America is building again. We defunded Newsom’s disaster and created the first Trump Infrastructure Dividend. Those dollars will now actually fund critical projects that enhance safety on rail networks across America.»

Newsom himself cast doubt on the full San Francisco-to-Los Angeles plan in 2019, and the project now faces a funding gap of roughly $90 billion.

«For $10 billion, Elon Musk put 300 rockets in orbit; for $11 billion, the state of California has built 1,600 feet of elevated rail with no rail,» Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar said in 2024.

State officials say they remain confident more money can be found to dump into the project, but for now California’s high-speed rail stands as a costly symbol of ambition, delay and deep public skepticism.

‘THE DAILY SHOW’ ROASTS GAVIN NEWSOM ON HOMELESSNESS, HIGH-SPEED RAIL IN SATIRICAL ‘LEADING MAN’ VIDEO

«The ultimate 494 miles of building this out without the federal government’s help will be challenging: There’s no doubt about that,» Omishakin said.

Nearly two decades since the start of the project, no track has been laid, and the only major visible progress is on a Central Valley segment between Bakersfield and Merced, according to the report.

The project’s earliest projected opening is now 2033, far later than originally promised. Critics, including Bakersfield’s Fong, a member of the House Transportation Committee.

CALIFORNIA IS BROKE, BUT IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR THE REST OF US

«The business plan that was put out in 2008 was very theoretical,» Fong said. «You know, ‘This is what we think is gonna happen.’

«And it became very clear that they didn’t have the specifics worked out.»

Fong has sought oversight and accountability on the waste, including 597 change orders that have cost more than $2.3 billion alone as of November 2025, which is nearly 7% of the initial $33 billion project estimate.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri, middle, greet Iron Workers Local 155 members at the Southern Railhead site in the Wasco/Shafter area in Wasco, Feb. 3, 2026. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)

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«Taxpayers deserve full transparency and accountability,» Fong wrote in a statement in February. «The high-speed rail nightmare is a glaring example of structural mismanagement.

«Reckless, repeated contract amendments have squandered resources and precious tax dollars. Hardworking California taxpayers cannot afford to let this continue. This project should be canceled before even more money and time are wasted.»