Medical Dialogues
  • Dermatology
Login Register
This site is intended for healthcare professionals only
Login Register
  • MD Brand Connect
  • Vaccine Hub
  • MDTV
    • Breaking News
    • Medical News Today
    • Health News Today
    • Latest
    • Journal Club
    • Medico Legal Update
    • Latest Webinars
    • MD Shorts
    • Health Dialogues
  • Fact Check
  • Health Dialogues
Medical Dialogues
  • Medical News & Guidelines
      • Anesthesiology
      • Cardiology and CTVS
      • Critical Care
      • Dentistry
      • Dermatology
      • Diabetes and Endocrinology
      • ENT
      • Gastroenterology
      • Medicine
      • Nephrology
      • Neurology
      • Obstretics-Gynaecology
      • Oncology
      • Ophthalmology
      • Orthopaedics
      • Pediatrics-Neonatology
      • Psychiatry
      • Pulmonology
      • Radiology
      • Surgery
      • Urology
      • Laboratory Medicine
      • Diet
      • Nursing
      • Paramedical
      • Physiotherapy
  • Health news
      • Doctor News
      • Government Policies
      • Hospital & Diagnostics
      • International Health News
      • Medical Organization News
      • Medico Legal News
      • NBE News
      • NMC News
  • Fact Check
      • Bone Health Fact Check
      • Brain Health Fact Check
      • Cancer Related Fact Check
      • Child Care Fact Check
      • Dental and oral health fact check
      • Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
      • Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
      • Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
      • Fitness fact check
      • Gut health fact check
      • Heart health fact check
      • Kidney health fact check
      • Medical education fact check
      • Men's health fact check
      • Respiratory fact check
      • Skin and hair care fact check
      • Vaccine and Immunization fact check
      • Women's health fact check
  • AYUSH
    • Ayurveda
    • Homeopathy
    • Siddha
    • Unani
    • Yoga
  • State News
      • Andaman and Nicobar Islands
      • Andhra Pradesh
      • Arunachal Pradesh
      • Assam
      • Bihar
      • Chandigarh
      • Chattisgarh
      • Dadra and Nagar Haveli
      • Daman and Diu
      • Delhi
      • Goa
      • Gujarat
      • Haryana
      • Himachal Pradesh
      • Jammu & Kashmir
      • Jharkhand
      • Karnataka
      • Kerala
      • Ladakh
      • Lakshadweep
      • Madhya Pradesh
      • Maharashtra
      • Manipur
      • Meghalaya
      • Mizoram
      • Nagaland
      • Odisha
      • Puducherry
      • Punjab
      • Rajasthan
      • Sikkim
      • Tamil Nadu
      • Telangana
      • Tripura
      • Uttar Pradesh
      • Uttrakhand
      • West Bengal
  • Medical Education
      • Ayush Education News
      • Dentistry Education News
      • Medical Admission News
      • Medical Colleges News
      • Medical Courses News
      • Medical Universities News
      • Nursing education News
      • Paramedical Education News
      • Study Abroad
  • Industry
      • Health Investment News
      • Health Startup News
      • Medical Devices News
      • Pharma News
      • Pharmacy Education News
      • Industry Perspective
  • MDTV
      • Health Dialogues MDTV
      • Health News today MDTV
      • Latest Videos MDTV
      • Latest Webinars MDTV
      • MD shorts MDTV
      • Medical News Today MDTV
      • Medico Legal Update MDTV
      • Top Videos MDTV
      • Health Perspectives MDTV
      • Journal Club MDTV
      • Medical Dialogues Show
This site is intended for healthcare professionals only
LoginRegister
Medical Dialogues
LoginRegister
  • Home
  • Medical news & Guidelines
    • Anesthesiology
    • Cardiology and CTVS
    • Critical Care
    • Dentistry
    • Dermatology
    • Diabetes and Endocrinology
    • ENT
    • Gastroenterology
    • Medicine
    • Nephrology
    • Neurology
    • Obstretics-Gynaecology
    • Oncology
    • Ophthalmology
    • Orthopaedics
    • Pediatrics-Neonatology
    • Psychiatry
    • Pulmonology
    • Radiology
    • Surgery
    • Urology
    • Laboratory Medicine
    • Diet
    • Nursing
    • Paramedical
    • Physiotherapy
  • Health news
    • Doctor News
    • Government Policies
    • Hospital & Diagnostics
    • International Health News
    • Medical Organization News
    • Medico Legal News
    • NBE News
    • NMC News
  • Fact Check
    • Bone Health Fact Check
    • Brain Health Fact Check
    • Cancer Related Fact Check
    • Child Care Fact Check
    • Dental and oral health fact check
    • Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
    • Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
    • Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
    • Fitness fact check
    • Gut health fact check
    • Heart health fact check
    • Kidney health fact check
    • Medical education fact check
    • Men's health fact check
    • Respiratory fact check
    • Skin and hair care fact check
    • Vaccine and Immunization fact check
    • Women's health fact check
  • AYUSH
    • Ayurveda
      • Ayurveda Giuidelines
      • Ayurveda News
    • Homeopathy
      • Homeopathy Guidelines
      • Homeopathy News
    • Siddha
      • Siddha Guidelines
      • Siddha News
    • Unani
      • Unani Guidelines
      • Unani News
    • Yoga
      • Yoga Guidelines
      • Yoga News
  • State News
    • Andaman and Nicobar Islands
    • Andhra Pradesh
    • Arunachal Pradesh
    • Assam
    • Bihar
    • Chandigarh
    • Chattisgarh
    • Dadra and Nagar Haveli
    • Daman and Diu
    • Delhi
    • Goa
    • Gujarat
    • Haryana
    • Himachal Pradesh
    • Jammu & Kashmir
    • Jharkhand
    • Karnataka
    • Kerala
    • Ladakh
    • Lakshadweep
    • Madhya Pradesh
    • Maharashtra
    • Manipur
    • Meghalaya
    • Mizoram
    • Nagaland
    • Odisha
    • Puducherry
    • Punjab
    • Rajasthan
    • Sikkim
    • Tamil Nadu
    • Telangana
    • Tripura
    • Uttar Pradesh
    • Uttrakhand
    • West Bengal
  • Medical Education
    • Ayush Education News
    • Dentistry Education News
    • Medical Admission News
    • Medical Colleges News
    • Medical Courses News
    • Medical Universities News
    • Nursing education News
    • Paramedical Education News
    • Study Abroad
  • Industry
    • Health Investment News
    • Health Startup News
    • Medical Devices News
    • Pharma News
      • CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation) News
    • Pharmacy Education News
    • Industry Perspective
  • Home
  • Neurology and Neurosurgery
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery News
  • GLP-1 receptor...

GLP-1 receptor agonists can dial down inflammation in the brain, raising hopes for treating neurodegenerative diseases

Written By : Medha Baranwal |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2024-02-26T23:45:00+05:30  |  Updated On 26 Feb 2024 11:45 PM IST
GLP-1 receptor agonists can dial down inflammation in the brain, raising hopes for treating neurodegenerative diseases
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • Telegram
  • Email

USA: Evidence suggests that glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists that reduce obesity can reduce inflammation in the kidneys, liver and heart. The drugs even seem to dial down inflammation in the brain, leading researchers to hope that the compounds could be used to treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, both of which are characterized by brain inflammation.

A recent review listed more than 20 clinical trials that are exploring the drugs as therapies for the two conditions.

“The next generation of drugs could be even more targeted to reduce these new inflammation pathways that we’ve identified,” says Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist at the University of Toronto in Canada who co-authored a study investigating how the drugs dampen inflammation. “Maybe they would be more effective.”

The GLP-1 receptor agonists include semaglutide, which is marketed as Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for obesity, and tirzepatide, marketed as Zepbound for obesity and Mounjaro for diabetes. The drugs mimic a gut hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1, which acts on the brain to dampen appetite, in addition to controlling blood sugar levels. But many previous studies have showcased the ability of the hormone and its mimics to calm inflammation, caused by an onslaught of immune cells and immune-system chemicals.

In one experiment, a GLP-1 receptor agonist called liraglutide reduced liver inflammation in mice with fatty liver. A similar effect was seen in a pilot study with people. In other experiments in mice, liraglutide demonstrated anti-inflammatory potential in the heart and the kidneys. GLP-1 itself reduces inflammation in fat tissue in obese and diabetic mice.

The reductions in blood sugar and body weight that the drugs trigger probably help to control inflammation. However, some of the drugs’ anti-inflammatory effects start even before meaningful weight loss is achieved. This is why scientists think there’s a separate mechanism at play.

Drucker and his team observed a potential clue: receptors for GLP-1 are scarce in immune cells in many tissues in which the hormone and its mimics reduce inflammation, but are abundant in the brain. To test the role of the nervous system, Drucker’s team began by inducing system-wide inflammation in mice.

“Multiple GLP-1 drugs made those mice better and reduced inflammation,” Drucker says. However, when the researchers used either genetic methods or drugs to block GLP-1 receptors in the animals’ brains, the GLP-1 drugs no longer reduced inflammation in multiple tissues. The findings were published in Cell Metabolism on December 2.

The anti-inflammatory powers of the GLP-1 drugs are promising for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Both are characterized by neuroinflammation that is not effectively targeted by current therapies. In both disorders, pathological proteins — for example, alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s and beta-amyloid in Alzheimer’s — interact with certain receptors in the brain to induce a cascade of events that cause inflammation.

Excessive inflammation can contribute to disease, says Nigel Greig, a pharmacologist at the National Institutes of Health in Baltimore, Maryland. But GLP-1 receptor agonists seem to have the ability to knock back inflammation in the brain so that important processes, such as the birth of new neurons, can continue to occur, he notes.

In one clinical trial, a GLP-1 receptor agonist called exenatide resulted in greater improvement in the abilities of patients with Parkinson’s than did a placebo. The medication is now being assessed in a trial involving a larger population of people with Parkinson’s and should conclude this year. At least two clinical trials are investigating semaglutide as a therapy for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

The drugs’ anti-inflammatory action might also help to boost their effectiveness against diabetes and obesity, says Vinicius de Frias Carvalho, a biologist at the Inflammation Laboratory at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Both conditions “are also inflammatory diseases”, he says. Semaglutide’s anti-inflammatory action might play a part in an effect that recently made headlines: the drug provides strong protection against cardiovascular disease in people with obesity.

The use of GLP-1 drugs to treat inflammation-related diseases could expand even further, Greig says, especially given the drugs’ lack of significant side effects. “There are so many systemic disorders where there’s an inflammatory component,” he says. It only makes sense, he says, to try the drugs against such disorders if there’s no effective treatment.

Reference:

Lenharo, M. (2024). Obesity drugs have another superpower: Taming inflammation. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00118-4

Natureglucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonistsinflammationParkinson
Source : Nature
Medha Baranwal
Medha Baranwal

    MSc. Biotechnology

    Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli
    Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

    Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751

    Show Full Article
    Next Story

    Editorial

    National Consensus 2025 on Role of Bisoprolol Across CV Continuum in Women: Top 10 Takeaways

    National Consensus 2025 on Role of Bisoprolol Across CV Continuum in Women: Top 10 Takeaways

    Relevance of Pioglitazone in Indian T2DM Care Continuum

    Relevance of Pioglitazone in Indian T2DM Care Continuum

    Azmarda Outperforms Generic Sacubitril/Valsartan in HFrEF Management, says new study

    Azmarda Outperforms Generic Sacubitril/Valsartan in HFrEF Management, says new study

    First Indian Consensus on Managing Refractory Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Recommends Vonoprazan

    First Indian Consensus on Managing Refractory Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Recommends Vonoprazan

    Re-visiting the Role of Pneumococcal Vaccination in Patients with Cardiovascular Diseases

    Re-visiting the Role of Pneumococcal Vaccination in Patients with Cardiovascular Diseases

    View All

    Journal Club Today

    Study Reveals Why Your Immune System Works Better in Daylight

    Study Reveals Why Your Immune System Works Better in Daylight

    View All

    Health News Today

    Health Bulletin 29/May/2025

    Health Bulletin 29/May/2025

    View All
    © 2022 All Rights Reserved.
    Powered By: Hocalwire
    X
    We use cookies for analytics, advertising and to improve our site. You agree to our use of cookies by continuing to use our site. To know more, see our Cookie Policy and Cookie Settings.Ok