Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Obesity today is a growing epidemic throughout the world. With weight gain, the risk of type 2 diabetes and hypertension increases. With the approval of GLP-1 RA (semaglutide) by the FDA in June 2021 for weight reduction, a big push was given regarding the possibilities of obesity and especially for people at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Aim: To analyze the impact of semaglutide on insulin resistance and weight loss in patients with prediabetes.

Methods and Material: The study prospective with 24 overweight and obese patients without diabetes and other chronic diseases but with high risk for tipe 2 diabetes because of high insulin resistance. In the study, the treatment period varied from 6-12 weeks. HOMA index and body weight reduction was monitjored. Treatment with semaglutide was done with dozes of 0.25 mg, 0.50 mg and 1 mg s.c. once a week. Each patient is instructed to change the lifestyle such as healthy food and physical activity.

Results: The weight loss of the studied population varied and the longer they took the treatment the weight loos was greater. On average, the weight loss for patients who continued the treatment for more than 3 months was from 3-18% (1-14 kg) as well as a significant decrease in the HOMA index. The side effects that were identified were nausea, vomiting and rarely diarrhea. Such weight loss has also been seen in trial studies such as SUSTASIN (Semaglutide Unabated Sustainability in Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes, 1-10 trials), STEP (Semaglutide Treatment Effect in Persons) with Obesity, 1-5 trials) and PIONEER (Peptide Innovation for Early Diabetes Treatment 1-10 trials) after witch FDA approved semaglutide for obesity treatment.

Conclusion: The patients in this study had a decrease weight and an improvement in cardiometabolic factors. The number of such risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes makes these medications a priority in clinical practice and the only factor that hinders access is the easy prescription of high-priced drugs on the market. Another benefit of semaglutide in weight management is its long-term use.