New Drug in Development to Offset Bone and Muscle Loss From GLP-1 Drugs, but Does It Underscore a Bigger Problem?
Although the primary GLP-1 drug was permitted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the early 2000s, it wasn’t till a few years in the past that its use grew to become mainstream. Originally crafted to assist individuals with type-2 diabetes, the category of remedy was shortly acknowledged as a means to facilitate weight loss.
In 2023, celebrities and common Joes alike could not wait to get their arms on the extremely efficient injectables in hopes of a decrease body fats share.
But the medicine did not come with out unwanted effects, equivalent to pancreatitis and lowered muscle mass and bone density. Strength training whereas utilizing GLP-1 medicine is integral to staving off the latter. However, a study suggests there could also be a loophole.
Related: This Superfood Could Help Lower Bowel Cancer Risk, Study Finds
A sure antibody often known as bimagrumab could possibly be the important thing to rising muscle mass and bone density due to using GLP-1 medicine, in accordance to the analysis initially revealed in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia, and Muscle.
“Bimagrumab, a drug that works by blocking activin and myostatin signaling—mechanisms known to drive muscle and bone degradation—presents a potential solution,” says head researcher Frederik Duch Bromer. “Our study investigated bimagrumab treatment in a mouse model of severe muscle and bone loss caused by botulinum toxin-induced hindlimb paralysis. This model simulates an even more extreme degree of muscle and bone deterioration than that seen with weight loss drugs.”
To carry out the examine, researchers broke mice into 5 totally different teams, a few of which included injecting the legs of the mice with botulinum toxin to immobilize them and replicate the concurrent loss of muscle mass and bone density. Immediately after, the mice got twice weekly bimagrumab injections for 21 days. After this, their muscle mass and skeletal muscle fiber dimension had been analyzed.
They discovered the mice injected with bimagrumab had elevated muscle mass, muscle fibers, and bone mineral density in the hindlimb of immobilized and unconstrained mice. Not solely this, but it elevated the bone formation in cortical bone (the denser variant of bone tissue).
“While bimagrumab did not completely prevent muscle and bone loss, it significantly mitigated it, suggesting that it could help counteract these effects in humans undergoing rapid weight loss,” Bromer added.
Related: Jonah Hill’s Body Transformation Over the Years Is the Perfect Reminder Weight Loss Isn’t Always Linear
Because the examine was primarily based on mice, researchers are nonetheless a good distance off from seeing if it is secure to use on people. According to postdoc fellow Andreas Lodberg who was one of many researchers behind the examine, extra analysis is required.
“Although our research did not specifically focus on bone loss in obesity, this is an important area for further investigation,” Bromer stated. “Since weight loss medicine are primarily prescribed for individuals with weight problems, understanding how bimagrumab interacts with bone health in this inhabitants is essential.
If this development goes by way of, it could possibly be advantageous to sufferers who’re older, much less cellular, or have bodily handicaps that stop exercise—but it might additionally open Pandora’s field for many who are bodily abled and able to exercising. By all the time turning to remedy to remedy a downside, will we undermine the life-style adjustments needed to safely lose weight and preserve it off? And will we encourage these on the hunt for fast fixes—who do not medically want GLP-1 medicine—to bypass the function they play in taking their health into their very own arms?