Semaglutide Linked to Lower Inflammation and Potential Heart Benefits

Details

A large analysis of the SELECT trial adds to evidence that semaglutide may do more than reduce body weight. Researchers examined 17,604 adults with overweight or obesity and established cardiovascular disease who did not have diabetes. They tracked high sensitivity C reactive protein, or hsCRP, a blood marker associated with systemic inflammation. Semaglutide lowered hsCRP by about 37.8 percent after 104 weeks compared with placebo, and the reduction appeared as early as four to eight weeks, before substantial weight loss had occurred in some participants. The study also found that lower hsCRP levels were associated with lower risk of major cardiovascular events. The researchers suggest that reduced inflammation may have contributed to some of semaglutide cardiovascular benefits, although the findings do not prove that inflammation reduction alone caused those benefits. Earlier randomized trials and a meta analysis have also found reductions in C reactive protein among people taking semaglutide, supporting the idea that changes in inflammation may be part of the drugs broader effects. The findings are important because they point toward biological effects that may occur alongside, and sometimes before, major weight change. They do not establish that semaglutide should be used by people at normal weight simply to reduce inflammation, nor do they prove that it treats individual inflammatory diseases. More research is needed to determine which effects are directly caused by GLP 1 signaling, which are related to metabolic changes, and which patients are most likely to benefit.