Semaglutide doesn't Increase Suicidal Ideation in obese Diabetes Patients

A recent study published in the recent edition of Nature Medicine Journal found that semaglutide, the glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP1R) agonist is not associated with increased risk of suicidal ideation. Since some reports linked semaglutide used for type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and obesity with suicidal ideation, the European regulatory agencies launched investigations. But, this recent retrospective cohort study was conducted on electronic health records from the TriNetX Analytics Network which offered contrasting findings.

This study encompassed 240,618 patients with overweight or obesity and compared those prescribed semaglutide to those on non-GLP1R agonist anti-obesity medicines. These results were replicated in a substantial group of 1,589,855 T2DM patients. This analysis included calculating hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incident and recurrent suicidal ideation during a follow-up of 6 months with a focus on propensity score-matched patient groups.

In contrary to the previous concerns, the patients with overweight or obesity (mean age 50.1 years, 72.6% female) included in the study revealed that semaglutide when compared to non-GLP1R agonist anti-obesity medications was associated with a lower risk for both incident (HR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.20–0.32) and recurrent (HR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.32–0.60) suicidal ideation. 

The results of the study were replicated in patients with T2DM (mean age 57.5 years, 49.2% female) which further supports the conclusion that semaglutide does not pose a higher risk of suicidal ideation compared to non-GLP1R agonist anti-obesity or anti-diabetes drugs. The investigation strengthens valuable inputs into the safety profile of this widely used medication for T2DM and obesity by potentially reducing fears among patients and healthcare professionals.

Source:

Wang, W., Volkow, N. D., Berger, N. A., Davis, P. B., Kaelber, D. C., & Xu, R. (2024). Association of semaglutide with risk of suicidal ideation in a real-world cohort. In Nature Medicine. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02672-2