A recent study conducted by researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine suggests that semaglutide, a medication commonly used in widespread diabetes and weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, may significantly decrease the incidence and recurrence of alcohol abuse or dependence. Published in Nature Communications, this research underscores a potentially innovative treatment avenue for alcohol-use disorder (AUD) — a condition responsible for approximately 178,000 deaths annually in the US, as per the Centers for Disease Control.
The study delved into the electronic health records of almost 84,000 patients with obesity, discovering that those treated with semaglutide exhibited a 50% to 56% reduction in the onset and recurrence of AUD over the following year, compared to patients treated with other anti-obesity drugs. This impressive outcome highlights semaglutide’s role as a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1), which not only helps manage blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetes and curb appetite.
Rong Xu, the study’s lead researcher and a professor of biomedical informatics at the School of Medicine, expressed optimism about the results. Xu, the director of the Center for AI in Drug Discovery at the medical school, worked alongside Nathan Berger, the Hanna-Payne Professor of Experimental Medicine, and Pamela Davis, the Arline H. and Curtis F. Garvin Research Professor. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute for Drug Abuse, also contributed to the study.
Berger noted the methodological consistency with the team’s earlier studies this year, which showed semaglutide’s associations with reduced suicidal thoughts and a decrease in both new diagnoses and recurrence of cannabis-use disorder. These findings were echoed in a subsequent review of electronic health records for around 600,000 patients with type 2 diabetes, further supporting the link between semaglutide treatment and reduced diagnoses of AUD.
Despite the promising data, Davis emphasised the need for further randomised clinical trials to establish semaglutide’s clinical utility for treating AUD comprehensively. The current findings provide preliminary real-world evidence pointing towards the potential benefits of semaglutide for managing AUD, marking a significant step forward in the search for effective treatments for this pervasive health issue.
More information: William Wang et al, Associations of semaglutide with incidence and recurrence of alcohol use disorder in real-world population, Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48780-6
Journal information: Nature Communications Provided by Case Western Reserve University
