Ellie Abraham
Dec 10, 2024
ZMG - Veuer / VideoElephant
Popular weight loss drug, semaglutide, could be shrinking the muscle tissue in the heart, a new study has found.
In recent years, semaglutide – the weight-loss drug known widely by branded names such as Ozempic and Wegovy – has soared in popularity, with everyone from the Hollywood elites to now the general public using it to help manage their weight.
But, as well as waistlines, a new study has found that semaglutide may also be shrinking our organs too.
In new research, experts investigated the link between semaglutide use and muscle loss. To do this, they fed male mice a high-fat, high-sugar diet over a number of weeks before switching their diet to a more “standard” one for their species.
The mice were then either treated with semaglutide, or a control. In those given semaglutide, the experts found that the mice had lost 30 per cent of their body weight and 65 per cent of their fat mass within three weeks.
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However, they also noted that the semaglutide-treated mice also lost a large amount of mass in the left ventricles of their hearts – the organ’s main pumping chamber. This loss was in addition to a decline in the overall weight of the heart and its surface area.
Despite this, experts found that the heart’s ability to pump and relax was not affected during the short trial, suggesting no impact on the heart’s function.
The same semaglutide experiment conducted on already-lean mice found no significant change in their overall body weight, however, they lost 8.2 per cent of their skeletal mass over a three-week period of treatment.
Similar size and weight changes were observed in the heart to those seen in the obese mice.
In addition, semaglutide treatment on lab-grown human heart cells was also consistent, showing a reduction in cell surface area after just 24 hours - but experts stress more research is needed to understand whether the drug truly impacts humans.
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