The U.S. researchers said the results justify larger clinical trials to evaluate this class of drugs — known as glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists — for alcohol use disorder. The study is published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“We hoped to see a reduction in drinking and craving,” said Christian Hendershot, lead author of the study from the University of Southern California. “What I didn’t expect was the magnitude of the effects looks fairly good … compared to other alcohol-use disorder medications.”
Stephen Burgess from Cambridge university said the study was a small “but an exciting one.”
“This study serves as an initial indication that semaglutide and similar weight-loss drugs may be beneficial for treating alcohol use disorder, at least in the short term,” he said.
But he added that larger and longer studies would be needed to understand whether people who stop the treatment can still maintain a healthy alcohol status post-treatment.