Semaglutide shown to be effective for weight loss in multicentre, one-year real-world study
New research presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO2023, Dublin, 17-20 May) shows that the obesity drug semaglutide…
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 multicentre, 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, USA and colleagues.
Semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, is the most recently FDA-approved anti-obesity medication. It has shown significant weight loss outcomes in multiple long-term randomised 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.
They performed a retrospective, multicentre (Mayo Clinic Hospitals: Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida) data collection on the use of semaglutide for the treatment of obesity. They included patients with a 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). They excluded patients taking other medications for obesity, those with a history of obesity surgery, those with cancer, and those who were pregnant.
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 haemoglobin, 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.
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 Table 1 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.
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. Half of the patients experienced side effects related to the medication use (154/305) with the most reported being nausea (38%) and diarrhoea (9%) (Figure 1D). The side effects were mostly mild not affecting the quality of life but in 16 cases they resulted in stopping the medication.
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.”
This article is based on a press release from the European Association for the Study of Obesity.
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