A study in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism has identified certain characteristics that might influence individuals' weight loss after taking prescription drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) such as semaglutide (sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy).
After analyzing data on 679 people in China with overweight or obesity who initiated treatment with semaglutide or another GLP-1RA called liraglutide between November 2022 and October 2024, investigators found that longer duration of GLP-1RA treatment, using semaglutide, not having diabetes, and having a higher percentage of body fat were associated with better weight reduction over 12 months. Higher metabolic rate, skeletal muscle mass, muscle mass of the abdomen and limbs, and serum creatinine were also linked with better probabilities of successful weight loss.
"Our study has characterized the weight fluctuation trajectories following GLP-1RA treatment using real-world individual-level data from Chinese populations, providing novel insights into the heterogeneity and complexity of GLP-1RA therapeutic responses," the authors wrote.
URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dom.16552
