New publications
Study shows that semaglutide reduces the incidence and relapses of alcohol dependence
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
A new study by researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has found that popular diabetes and weight loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic are associated with reduced incidence and relapse of alcohol abuse or dependence.
The study findings, recently published in the journal Nature Communications, may point to the possibility of a new treatment for excessive alcohol use, including alcohol use disorder (AUD).
To date, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved only three drugs to treat AUD.
The active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic is semaglutide, which belongs to a class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists. GLP-1 helps regulate blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetes and reduces appetite.
Researchers examined electronic health records of nearly 84,000 obese patients. They found that those treated with semaglutide, compared with patients treated with other anti-obesity drugs, had a 50% to 56% reduction in both the onset and recurrence of alcohol use disorder within a year of treatment.
"This is very encouraging news because we may have a new therapeutic option for AUD," said Rong Xu, a professor of biomedical informatics at the School of Medicine and lead investigator of the study.
Xu, also director of the medical school's Center for Artificial Intelligence in Drug Discovery, worked with study co-authors Nathan Berger, the Hanna-Paine Professor of Experimental Medicine, and Pamela Davis, the Arline H. and Curtis F. Garvin Research Professor. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is also a co-author of the study.
"We collected real-world data similar to our two previous studies published this year," Berger said. "In January, we showed that semaglutide was associated with a reduction in suicidal ideation, and in March, we showed that semaglutide was also associated with a reduction in new diagnoses and relapses of cannabis dependence."
Similar results were found when the team looked at electronic health records of about 600,000 patients with type 2 diabetes. Again, they found that those treated with semaglutide experienced a consistent reduction in alcohol use disorder diagnoses.
"While the results are encouraging and provide preliminary evidence of the potential benefit of semaglutide in AUD in a real-world population," Davis said, "further randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm its clinical use in AUD."