Semaglutide may reduce risk for atherosclerotic CVD among adults with obesity
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Key takeaways:
- Adults with obesity who used semaglutide for 1 year reduced their ASCVD risk by 1.38 percentage points.
- There was no change in the use of hypertension medications, statins or aspirin from baseline to 1 year.
Adults with obesity who used semaglutide for weight loss reduced their 10-year risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to findings presented at the European Congress on Obesity.
“This study is of immense clinical significance as we show that semaglutide (Wegovy, Novo Nordisk) is reducing one of the most common reasons of death, particularly in a population with obesity and other associated metabolic comorbidities,” Wissam Ghusn, MD, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Precision Medicine for Obesity Program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told Healio. “Hence, we demonstrate that semaglutide can have a positive effect on both morbidity and mortality risks.”
Ghusn and colleagues conducted a multicenter retrospective study of 93 adults aged 40 to 79 years with obesity and no prior CVD who used semaglutide for weight loss (mean age, 55 years; 69% women). Demographics, clinical parameters and lipid panel data were used to calculate the 10-year risk for atherosclerotic CVD (ASCVD) at baseline and 1 year after semaglutide initiation. ASCVD risk was calculated using an estimator from the American College of Cardiology. The study’s primary endpoint was the difference in 10-year ASCVD risk between baseline and 1-year follow-up. Total body weight loss percentage and change in blood pressure, HbA1c, fasting glucose, lipid panel measurements, hypertension medications and the use of aspirin and statins from baseline to follow-up were secondary outcomes.
Participants had a decrease in the 10-year risk for ASCVD from 7.6% at baseline to 6.3% at follow-up (mean difference, 1.38 percentage points; P < .001). Of 41 adults who had body weight loss data available, the mean weight loss at 1 year was 10.9% (P < .001).
The cohort had a decline in both systolic BP, from 131 mm Hg at baseline to 122 mm Hg at follow-up (P < .001), and diastolic BP, from 81 mm Hg at baseline to 76 mm Hg, at 1 year (P < .001). From baseline to 1 year, the cohort had reductions in total cholesterol (179 mg/dL vs. 169 mg/dL; (P = .008), LDL cholesterol (100 mg/dL vs. 94 mg/dL; (P = .04) and triglycerides (155 mg/dL vs. 133 mg/dL; (P = .01). Fasting glucose dropped from 129 mg/dL at baseline to 107 mg/dL at 1 year for 64 adults with data available (P = .003), and 54 participants with HbA1c measurements available had a decline in HbA1c from 6.65% at baseline to 5.93% at 1 year (P < .001).
No changes in the use of hypertension medications, statins or aspirin were observed from baseline to follow-up.
“Although there are no prior studies that show the real-world CV benefits of semaglutide, we expected this improvement of CVD risk after seeing the significant metabolic and BP improvements associated with semaglutide,” Ghusn said.
Ghusn said a trial with semaglutide that enrolls adults with an increased risk for CVD should be conducted in the future.
“This would help us understand better the magnitude of CV improvement associated with the use of semaglutide,” Ghusn said.
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Ghusn W, et al. PO4.050. Presented at: European Congress on Obesity; May 17-20, 2023; Dublin.
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