More evidence has emerged to support GLP-1 medications’ potential as alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment tools.
Few medications are available to treat AUD, and the use of the drugs is often “overshadowed” by other critical substance use disorder (SUD) trends. GLP-1s, the weight loss drugs sweeping the nation, could reduce alcohol use, according to a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry, though more research is needed.
“Since the FDA approval of the first AUD medication (disulfiram) in 1951, only two medications (naltrexone and acamprosate) have received subsequent FDA approval for AUD,” researchers wrote. “The rate of one new approval every 20 to 25 years is inadequate and is in stark contrast with the pace of FDA approvals for diabetes medications. … [GLP-1 medications] could have broad clinical infiltration, with potential to bypass many traditional impediments to the uptake of AUD medications, including low public and provider awareness and stigma toward AUD treatments.”
The use of GLP-1s to treat AUD could also reduce prescribing barriers in the SUD industry and in primary care, researchers wrote.
Researchers assessed data from 48 randomized participants at a U.S. academic medical center from September 2022 to February 2024.
The study’s participants received semaglutide weekly at increasing doses or a placebo. Researchers found that the semaglutide did not reduce the number of drinks per calendar day or the number of drinks participants chose to consume, but did have other benefits.
Patients on semaglutide opted to drink fewer drinks on the days they did drink and reported lower weekly alcohol cravings. These results predict reductions in heavy drinking over time, researchers said.
Among patients who smoke cigarettes, semaglutide also led to reductions in cigarette use.
Previous research also supports semaglutide as a treatment for AUD, including one study that found that nearly half of the patients enrolled in a study on weight loss drugs decreased alcohol use.
While GLP-1s show early promise in treating AUD, more research is needed.
“These findings provide initial prospective evidence that low-dose semaglutide can reduce craving and some drinking outcomes, justifying larger clinical trials to evaluate GLP-1RAs for alcohol use disorder,” researchers wrote.
