Carnivorous fish are poor users of dietary carbohydrates and are considered to be glucose intolerant. In this context, we have tested, for the first time in rainbow trout, metformin, a common anti-diabetic drug, known to modify muscle and liver metabolism and to control hyperglycemia in mammals. In the present study, juvenile trout were fed with very high levels of carbohydrates (30% of the diet) for this species during 10 days followed by feeding with pellets supplemented with metformin (0.25% of the diet) for 3 additional days. Dietary metformin lead to a significant reduction in postprandial glycemia in trout demonstrating unambiguously the hypoglycemic effect of this drug. No effect of metformin was detected on mRNA levels for glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT 4), or enzymes involved in glycolysis, mitochondrial energy metabolism or on glycogen level in the white muscle. Expected inhibition of hepatic gluconeogenic (glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1.6-bisphosphatase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase) mRNA levels was not found showing in stead paradoxically higher mRNA levels for these genes after drug treatment. Finally, metformin treatment was associated with higher mRNA levels and activities for lipogenic enzymes (fatty acid synthase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase). Overall, this study strongly supports the induction of hepatic lipogenesis by dietary glucose may permit a more efficient control of postprandial glycemia in carnivorous fish fed with high carbohydrate diets.