Weight loss drugs show promise to fight opioid and alcohol abuse – The Irish Times

Ozempic and similar products cut opioid and alcohol abuse by up to half, according to research that adds to evidence of the blockbuster drug’s broad potential beyond tackling obesity and the diabetes

An analysis of more than 500,000 people with a history of opiate use disorder showed that more than 8,000 participants who were separately prescribed so-called GLP-1 drugs, such as Ozempic, had an overdose rate of ‘opiates 40 percent lower than those who did not.

In the more than 5,000 participants who suffered from alcohol abuse and used a GLP-1 drug, there was a 50 percent lower rate of intoxication than in those without a prescription.

The study, published Thursday in the journal Addiction, is the latest effort to find medicinal ways to fight addiction. It will provide a better understanding of the ever-growing potential uses of GLP-1s and raise hopes for addressing the US opioid epidemic.

The findings “provide significant initial evidence that GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide are associated with reduced rates of overdose and intoxication in patients with alcohol and opioid use disorders,” said Fares Qeadan, associate professor of biostatistics at Loyola University Chicago and leader. work researcher

The results were based on analysis of electronic health records, and randomized controlled trials would be needed to establish a causal link, he added.

Matt Field, a professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield in the UK who was not involved in the research, said the study looked at “very extreme instances of substance intoxication” rather than whether users stopped taking the substance altogether, a result often tested by researchers studying treatments. for addiction

Field added that while Ozempic “may prevent people from taking so much alcohol or heroin that they overdose and end up in the hospital, it may not actually help them reduce their substance use or abstain from I know completely.”

The study was released as the United States continues to be ravaged by an epidemic linked to the overprescribing of opioids in the 1990s and the subsequent abuse of heroin and synthetic drugs such as fentanyl. There were more than 81,000 opioid-related deaths in the United States in 2023, a 3.7% drop from the previous year.

Researchers have already made progress in improving the effectiveness of naloxone, a widely used overdose treatment, as well as developing non-opioid-based treatments to treat addiction. Qeadan said GLP-1s could become a new treatment option, especially for those who don’t fully respond to existing drugs.

The GLP-1 receptors that Ozempic activated to stimulate insulin production and the slow passage of food through the stomach were also present in the brain’s reward system and were linked to cravings, Qeadan added. Researchers are also exploring the effects of GLP-1 on nicotine addiction and alcoholism in clinical trials.

However, there are challenges to expanding the use of GLP-1. Its effectiveness has led to high demand and sustained shortages of supply for Ozempic, Wegovy and other blockbuster drugs in the drug class. Side effects known as nausea and vomiting cause many users to stop using the drugs within a year.

Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk is conducting a study on how a new experimental GLP-1 that combines semaglutide with another compound, cagrilintide, could be used to treat alcohol use in patients with liver disease. The Danish company is also exploring whether semaglutide can tackle degenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s, in a sign of the wide range of potential drugmakers believe the drug has.

Beyond semaglutide, participants in the latest study were using drugs such as Eli Lilly’s weight loss and tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Mounjaro, and Novo Nordisk’s liraglutide, which is sold under the brand names Victoza and Saxenda to treat both diabetes and obesity. – Copyright The Financial Times