The anti-diabetic and anti-obesity drug semaglutide could also be used to reduce alcohol cravings, according to new US research. The ‘blockbuster’ drug, which is sold under the brand name Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss, could ‘help people cut down on their alcohol intake’, say researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
Weekly injections of semaglutide reduced ‘alcohol craving, drinking quantity and the frequency of heavy drinking days’ for people with alcohol use disorder when compared with placebo injections, according to a study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. People in the semaglutide group also consumed less alcohol when the treatment period was over, it says.
Researchers recruited 48 adults with alcohol use disorder who were not actively seeking treatment. A week before the first injection they were invited to consume their preferred drinks in a ‘comfortable lab setting’, with the results recorded, and were then randomly assigned to either the semaglutide group or placebo group. Each received weekly injections for nine weeks, before returning to the lab to repeat the initial process and have their alcohol consumption measured by ‘grams of alcohol consumed and breath alcohol concentration’.
Not only did those in the semaglutide group consume less alcohol in the lab setting, but clinical assessments also showed reductions in weekly alcohol craving, the number of heavy drinking days and the average number of drinks consumed. ‘A key finding was that the magnitude of semaglutide’s effects on several drinking outcomes appeared potentially greater than is often seen in similar studies with existing AUD [alcohol use disorder] medications, even though semaglutide was only administered at the lowest clinical doses,’ the researchers state. A subgroup of smokers also had ‘significantly greater’ reductions in the average number of cigarettes smoked than the placebo group, they point out.
The popularity of Ozempic and other GLP-1 receptor agonists – which work by mimicking the actions of the GLP-1 hormone, which is released after eating – could ‘increase the chances of broad adoption of these treatments for alcohol use disorder’, say the researchers. ‘The first clinical trial testing the impact of an older GLP-1 receptor agonist on alcohol use in humans was inconclusive,’ said Klara Klein of the UNC School of Medicine. ‘However, as prescription of semaglutide and similar medications escalated, anecdotal reports of reduced alcohol use became very common, and suggested the potential of these more potent therapies for treatment of alcohol use disorder.’ New research led by the University of Glasgow, meanwhile, is trying to find new ways to tackle opioid addiction by inhibiting the brain’s M5 receptor.
‘Although exciting’ the semaglutide data is preliminary and there is a ‘need to learn more,’ says the research team, including further studies to evaluate long-term effect on alcohol consumption as well as the ideal doses and treatment durations – which ‘may be different from the current recommendations for people living with diabetes and obesity’.
‘These data suggest the potential of semaglutide and similar drugs to fill an unmet need for the treatment of alcohol use disorder,’ said Klein. ‘Larger and longer studies in broader populations are needed to fully understand the safety and efficacy in people with alcohol use disorder, but these initial findings are promising.’
Once-weekly semaglutide in adults with alcohol use disorder: a randomized clinical trial available here