Obesity: medicine reduced the weight of participants by 24% – 06/26/2023 – Health

A drug to treat obesity was responsible for a 24% drop in the weight of people who participated in a study with the substance, whose results were released this Monday (26).

The research is still preliminary, but it is an indication that the drug can be a new tool in the control of body mass among overweight patients.

The article, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, investigated retatrutid. The drug simulates the action of three hormones that have already been studied for their effects of reducing appetite and helping to burn more calories. One such substance is GLP-1, which sends signals to the brain that you are full. In addition to it, the retatrutide is composed of the GIP and GCC.

The new study was funded by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, which is also developing the drug. The research sample consisted of 338 adults with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of at least 30, a number already considered obese. Another possibility was that the person had an index at level 27 associated with a condition associated with obesity.

Participants were divided into a group that received a placebo and another group that had access to the real medicine. In this second group, there were still separations based on drug dosage. For example, some of those involved received the drug at 1mg, while others reached a maximum weighing of 12mg.

The weight of each one was consulted at the beginning of the research and after 24 weeks. Afterwards, the measurement was taken again at 48 weeks from the beginning of the investigation. So, applications were made once a week. When reaching the two defined periods of the study, it was possible to observe the weight reduction that retatrutide caused compared to those in the placebo group.

At 24 weeks, patients who took the 12mg dose showed a 17% drop. The same group, at 48 weeks, showed a 24% reduction in body mass. The contraction was basically zero in those using the placebo: 1.6% and 2.1%, respectively for each period.

Among those who had a lower dosage of retatrutide, such as 1 mg, there was also a drop in weight, but at low levels. At 24 weeks, the reduction was 7%, and in the second measurement period, the decrease was almost 9%.

In conclusion, the researchers point out that the 12mg dosage was responsible for a substantial drop in the participants’ weight. They explain that the data found for this version of retatrutide represents a high efficacy that is rare when “compared with findings from clinical studies of other anti-obesity agents, even if it has been observed with bariatric surgery”.

For example, wegovy, produced by Novo Nordisk and indicated for the treatment of obesity, showed a 17% reduction in participants’ body weight in about two years of use during a clinical study.

Although promising, new studies with retatrutide are needed since the research just published is phase 2. In this type of investigation, the sample of participants is smaller and one of the main approaches is to measure the safety of the drug. For approvals in regulatory agencies such as Anvisa, phase 3 research is essential. In them, the number of participants is much larger and the conclusions more assertive.

Side effects

The article also brings data on the side effects that the substance caused in the participants. Overall, gastrointestinal events such as vomiting and nausea were the most common. They were reported in both the placebo group and those using the drug.

However, some of the participants who accessed the drug gave up continuing the research because of the effects, something not observed in the placebo group.

Substance-associated symptoms were mostly mild or moderate. More serious problems occurred, but at an equal rate between the two groups: about 4% of participants in each part reported more serious adverse events.