More than 15 million adults in the United States, or about 4.5% of the population, are using weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.
These medications were first created to help people with type 2 diabetes, but they’ve recently become very popular for helping people lose weight.
However, they come with some problems. Some people gain the weight back after stopping the drug.
Others experience side effects like nausea, weak bones, or losing muscle. These issues have raised questions about whether these drugs are good for long-term use.
Scientists at Tufts University, led by chemistry professor Krishna Kumar, have been working on creating a better option.
Their new study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, talks about a new kind of drug they are testing. This drug could be more effective and cause fewer side effects.
To understand this new medicine, it helps to know how current weight loss drugs work. When we eat a meal, our body sends signals to help control blood sugar and tell us when to stop eating. One hormone involved in this is called GLP-1.
It helps the body release insulin and absorb sugar from the blood. It also makes people feel full and slows down how fast food moves through the stomach.
Ozempic uses a version of GLP-1 to help with weight loss. It’s so effective that the American Diabetes Association recommends it over insulin for many people with diabetes. But GLP-1 drugs have some downsides.
You have to inject them once a week, and they often cause nausea. In fact, around 40% of people stop using these drugs within the first month because they feel sick.
Another hormone called GIP works in a similar way. It also makes you feel full after eating. Scientists combined GLP-1 and GIP into a single drug called tirzepatide, sold under the names Mounjaro and Zepbound. This new combination causes less nausea and may be easier for people to keep using.
There’s also a third hormone, called glucagon. It may sound strange, but even though it raises blood sugar, it also helps the body burn more energy, raises body temperature, and reduces hunger.
Scientists mixed parts of all three hormones—GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon—into one new drug called retatrutide. This drug is still being tested, but early results show people can lose up to 24% of their body weight with it.
Now, the Tufts team wants to go even further. They are testing a new drug that also includes a fourth hormone: peptide YY (PYY). This hormone is released after we eat and helps reduce hunger and slow digestion.
It might even help burn fat directly. Adding PYY to the mix was tricky because it has a different structure than the other three. But the scientists found a way to connect all the pieces into one drug that works on four different receptors in the body.
This new “quadruple” drug could be more powerful and give more consistent results. Some people don’t respond well to current drugs, maybe because their bodies react differently to hormones. Hitting four targets at once might help fix that problem.
Another issue is that many people gain weight back after they stop using GLP-1 drugs. The researchers hope that this new drug will lead to longer-lasting weight loss, more like what people get from weight loss surgery.
In short, this study shows a new path for weight loss treatment. By using four hormones instead of just one or two, the new drug could be more effective and better tolerated. If it works, it might one day match the results of weight loss surgery, without the need for an operation.
The study is published in Journal of the American Chemical Society.
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