HEALTH DAILY NEWS

New research presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO2023, Dublin, 17-20 May) shows that the obesity drug semaglutide is effective for weight loss in a multicenter, 1-year-long real-world study. The study is by Dr. Andres Acosta and Dr. Wissam Ghusn, Precision Medicine for Obesity Program at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, U.S. and colleagues.n

n

Semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, is the most recently FDA-approved anti-obesity medication. It has shown significant clinical trials and short-term real-world studies. However, little is known about the weight loss and metabolic parameters outcomes in mid-term real-world studies. In this study, the authors assessed weight loss outcomes associated with semaglutide in patients with overweight and obesity with and without type 2 diabetes (T2DM) at 1 year follow-up.n

n

They performed a retrospective, multicenter (Mayo Clinic Hospitals: Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida) body mass index (BMI) =27 kg/m² (overweight and all higher BMI categories) who were prescribed weekly semaglutide subcutaneous injections (doses 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.7, 2, 2.4mg; however most were on the higher dose 2.4mg).n

n

They excluded patients taking other medications for obesity, those with a history of obesity surgery, those with cancer, and those who were pregnant.n

n

The primary end point was total body weight loss percentage (TBWL%) at 1 year. Secondary end points included proportion of patients achieving =5%, =10%, =15%, and =20% TBWL%, change in metabolic and cardiovascular parameters (blood pressure, HbA1c [glycated hemoglobin, a measure of blood sugar control], fasting glucose and blood fats), TBWL% of patients with and without T2DM, and frequency of side effects during the first year of therapy.n

n

A total of 305 patients were included in the analysis (73% female, mean age 49 years, 92% white, mean BMI 41, 26% with T2DM). Baseline characteristics and weight management visit details are presented in the full abstract. In the entire cohort, the mean TBWL% was 13.4% at 1 year (for the 110 patients who had weight data at 1 year). Patients with T2DM had a lower TBWL% of 10.1% for the 45 of 110 patients with data at 1 year, compared to those without T2DM of 16.7% for the 65 of 110 patients with data at 1 year.n

n

The percentage of patients that lost more than 5% of their body weight was 82%, more than 10% was 65%, more than 15% was 41%, and more than 20% was 21% at 1 year. Semaglutide treatment also significantly decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 6.8/2.5 mmHg; total cholesterol by 10.2 mg/dL; LDL of 5.1 mg/dL; and triglycerides of 17.6 mg/dL.n

n

Half of the patients experienced side effects related to the medication use (154/305) with the most reported being nausea (38%) and diarrhea (9%). The side effects were mostly mild not affecting the quality of life but in 16 cases they resulted in stopping the medication.n

n

The authors conclude, “Semaglutide was associated significant weight loss and metabolic parameters improvement at 1 year in a multi-site real-world study, demonstrating its effectiveness in the treatment of obesity, in patients with and without T2DM.”n

n

The Mayo team are preparing several other manuscripts relating to semaglutide, including weight outcomes in patients who had weight recurrence after patients who were on other anti-obesity medications previously compared to those who were not.

n

n

n Provided by
n European Association for the Study of Obesity

n

n

n