GLP-1 drugs’ heart health benefits not solely from weight loss: study

• As the recognition of GLP-1 receptor agonists for weight reduction continues to develop, researchers proceed to look at how these medicines would possibly influence different areas of an individual’s well being.
• In 2023, revealed analysis findings reported that semaglutide may doubtlessly scale back an individual’s danger for coronary heart assault, stroke, and main cardiac occasions by 20%.
• Constructing off this analysis, a brand new examine provides additional proof of semaglutide and lowered main cardiac occasion danger, no matter how a lot weight an individual loses whereas taking the GLP-1 treatment.

“GLP-1 receptor agonists are being proven to profit many power ailments over and above their impact on weight,” John Deanfield, FRCP, FESC, professor of cardiology on the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at College School London, instructed Medical Information At the moment. “These embody liver disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and neurological diseases reminiscent of Parkinson’s disease. They need to due to this fact not be labeled merely as ‘weight reduction’ medicine, however as medicine that may have a direct impact to enhance sufferers’ well being.”

In 2023, Deanfield and his analysis workforce revealed analysis findings that discovered semaglutide — the energetic ingredient in GLP-1 medicines Wegovy and Ozempic — may doubtlessly scale back an individual’s danger for heart attack, stroke, and main cardiac occasions by 20%.

Constructing off this analysis, Deanfield is the lead creator of a brand new examine not too long ago revealed within the journal The Lancet that gives additional proof of semaglutide and lowered main cardiac occasion danger, no matter how a lot weight an individual loses whereas taking the GLP-1 treatment.

For this new examine funded by pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk, which makes Wegovy and Ozempic, researchers analyzed medical information for greater than 17,000 adults ages 45 and over who had been a part of the SELECT trial. Examine individuals had been clinically obese and had heart problems, and had been randomly assigned to obtain weekly injections of semaglutide or a placebo.

“Semaglutide was developed as a drug for sufferers with diabetes however within the SELECT trial we demonstrated that it produced a profit on heart problems in sufferers with prior coronary heart illness, however no diabetes,” Deanfield responded when requested why his analysis workforce determined to take their 2023 findings additional to see what position weight reduction performed in coronary heart illness prevention.

“It additionally produced vital weight reduction, and it had been assumed that this accounted for the cardiovascular profit,” he mentioned.

On the new examine’s conclusion, researchers discovered that the discount in main antagonistic cardiac occasion danger discovered throughout their 2023 examine was comparable no matter how a lot a examine participant’s weight was in the beginning of the trial and the way a lot weight they misplaced over the primary 4.5 months of taking semaglutide.

“It suggests an impact on the causes of coronary heart illness somewhat than simply on weight,” Deanfield defined. “It could due to this fact profit sufferers with comparatively modest adiposity and even with BMIs within the regular vary, however this must be examined.”

Moreover, researchers did discover that individuals with a smaller waist circumference — an indication of much less visceral fat within the abdomen space — had been linked to raised coronary heart well being outcomes, and accounted for about one-third of semaglutide’s total profit.

“Belly adiposity marked by waist circumference is well-known to be related to elevated cardiovascular danger, and certainly in our examine there was a relationship between waist circumference change and cardiovascular outcomes,” Deanfield mentioned. “This, nonetheless, nonetheless accounted for lower than a 3rd of the cardiovascular profit seen in sufferers who took semaglutide.”

Not only a ‘weight reduction’ drug

“Semaglutide advantages coronary heart illness sufferers even with solely modest weight enhance and must be a part of cardiometabolic disease administration and never simply thought-about as a ‘weight reduction’ drug. Sufferers who lose little or no weight on remedy should still get a considerable cardiovascular profit.”
— John Deanfield, FRCP, FESC

MNT spoke with Mir Ali, MD, bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Middle at Orange Coast Medical Middle in Fountain Valley, CA, about this examine, who commented he was pleasantly stunned by its outcomes.

“It reveals that there are extra advantages to semaglutide past diabetes management and weight reduction,” Ali defined. “Since these medicine are very extensively prescribed for a lot of causes, it is very important perceive all the consequences of those medicines. Not solely is it essential to know all of the useful results, however it is also essential to know the potential unfavourable results, so sufferers will be recommended correctly.”

“The subsequent steps can be to design a examine to see the mechanism for enchancment in cardiovascular well being,” he added. “The others did theorize on doable mechanisms (like reducing lipid and power irritation), however this wants extra analysis to delineate extra clearly.”

MNT additionally spoke with Cheng-Han Chen, MD, a board licensed interventional heart specialist and medical director of the Structural Coronary heart Program at Saddleback Medical Middle in Laguna Hills, CA, about this analysis.

“Semaglutide has beforehand been proven within the SELECT trial to considerably scale back main antagonistic cardiovascular occasions in obese/overweight sufferers with identified coronary heart illness however with out diabetes,” Chen defined. “This examine analyzed the knowledge from the SELECT examine, and located that this profit to cardiovascular well being didn’t rely on how obese sufferers had been or how a lot weight they misplaced.”

“This fascinating discovering means that the cardiovascular advantages of semaglutide act by way of a biochemical mechanism not dependent merely on altering the physique weight of a person,” he continued. “This may occasionally open up different avenues of analysis and therapies that might enhance coronary heart well being.”

“Many current research have proven that semaglutide and different medicine on this class (GLP-1 agonists) provide a profit to cardiovascular well being past their advantages to weight reduction and blood sugar management. As probably the most impactful courses of medicine in current historical past, these medicines have the potential to dramatically enhance the charges of heart problems within the U.S.”
— Cheng-Han Chen, MD

“Future analysis ought to consider the doable mechanisms behind how GLP-1 agonists provide cardiovascular safety past their results on weight reduction and blood sugar management,” he added.