Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Obesity, a chronic disease, is recognised as a major public health problem. In 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended semaglutide, a weekly glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist, as a pharmacological option for weight management. This case series aims to evaluate the real-world effectiveness and safety profile of semaglutide therapy for weight loss.

Methods: Retrospective case review of patients treated with semaglutide for weight management in an outpatient endocrine clinic in Athens, Greece. Patients were adults with either a body mass index (BMI) > 30 kg/square meter or 27-29.9 kg/square meter and, at least, one weight-related complication. Patients with diabetes mellitus were excluded.

Results: Analysis included 36 individuals (25 females, 11 males) with a median age of 48 years, weight of 109.2 kg and BMI 39.7. The commonest comorbidities were dyslipidaemia (75%), prediabetes (61%), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (50%), and obstructive sleep apnoea (25%). Analysis of 36 patients showed a median 12-week percentage weight loss of 6.9%, with 72% and 19% of patients achieving > 5% and > 10% weight loss, respectively. Six-month data were available for 21 individuals. The median 24-week percentage weight loss was 13.3%, with 90%, 67%, and 29% of cases losing more than 5%, 10%, and 15% of the baseline weight, respectively. After 24 weeks of treatment, 8 patients received weekly semaglutide dose of 2.0 mg, with the remaining 13 being administered 1.0 mg dose. Side effects were generally mild, with only 1 case of drug discontinuation due to vomiting.

Discussion: Real-world data confirm the great effectiveness and safety of semaglutide for weight management. The availability of medications, such as semaglutide, with this unprecedented degree of efficacy could constitute a new paradigm for obesity care. This case series reports great potency of the lower 1.0 mg semaglutide dose which warrants further evaluation.