Popular obesity drugs limit amputations, heart issues among patients with peripheral artery disease
Popular weight loss medications such as semaglutide and tirzepatide are associated with multiple benefits for patients with moderate peripheral artery disease (PAD), according to new data presented at the Society for Vascular Surgery’s annual meeting in New Orleans.
Context about these GLP-1 RA medications
The rising popularity of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) has been one of healthcare’s biggest trends in recent y ears. Semaglutide and tirzepatide are perhaps the two most popular medications used for this purpose. Semaglutide is a GLP-1 RA sold by Novo Nordisk under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic. Tirzepatide, meanwhile, is a popular dual GIP/GLP-1 RA sold by Eli Lilly and Company under the brand names Zepbound and Mounjaro.
These drugs and other GLP-1 RAs were originally developed as diabetes drugs, but they are now being used more and more for weight loss, protection against heart disease and other health benefits.
Exploring PAD outcomes after one year
To learn more about how these drugs may impact PAD outcomes, researchers tracked data from more than 55,000 moderate PAD patients who started taking GLP-1 RAs and more than 55,000 moderate PAD patients who did not.
The group focused on major adverse cardiac events (MACEs), major adverse limb events (MALEs) and inpatient hospitalizations. MACEs were defined as myocardial infarction, stroke, acute ischemic heart disease and heart failure. MALEs were defined as acute limb ischemia that required thrombectomy or major limb amputation.
After one year, the group taking GLP-1 RAs was associated with a significantly lower MACE rate (25.4% vs. 29.3%), MALE rate (0.8% vs. 1.5%) and hospitalization rate (17.9% vs. 26.8%).
“GLP-1 RAs have the potential to benefit moderate PAD patients in more ways than one,” lead author Catherine Go, MD, medical director of the Charleston Area Medical Center Limb Salvage Program, said in a prepared statement. “Through this research, GLP-1 RAs not only benefited patient outcomes, but we also saw a decrease in LDL, triglycerides, hospital admissions. There is a unique opportunity for collaboration across specialties to raise awareness around the multiple benefits of GLP-1 RAs and determine the best care pathway to treat patients with PAD.”
A similar study was presented at ACC.25 in Chicago.
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.