Since being deemed a public health emergency in 2017, opioids are responsible for 72% of drug overdose deaths in the United States, according to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics. New research from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine identifies a potential new approach to address the opioid overdose epidemic-;which has devastated families and communities nationally. The study, published today in the journal JAMA Network Open, suggests semaglutide is linked to lower opioid overdoses in people with opioid-use disorder (OUD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D).
Semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide receptor (GLP-1R) molecule that decreases hunger and helps regulate blood sugar in T2D, is also the active component in the diabetes and weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. The research team-;led by biomedical informatics professor Rong Xu-;analyzed six years of electronic records of nearly 33,000 patients with OUD who also had T2D. The researchers used a statistical approach that mimics a randomized clinical trial.
They found patients prescribed semaglutide had a significantly lower risk for opioid overdose, compared to those who had taken any of eight other anti-diabetic medications, including other types of GLP-1R-targeting medications. Related Stories Research reveals disparities in diabetes drug efficacy for Black populations Hypothalamic ECM remodeling drives insulin resistance, contributing to obesity and diabetes Large-scale study to explore impact of typ.
