GLP-1 receptor agonists are promising but unproven treatments for alcohol and substance use disorders

Lorenzo Leggio; Christian S Hendershot; Mehdi Farokhnia; Anders Fink-Jensen; Mette Kruse Klausen; Joseph P Schacht; W Kyle Simmons

doi:10.1038/s41591-023-02634-8

GLP-1 receptor agonists are promising but unproven treatments for alcohol and substance use disorders

Nat Med. 2023 Dec;29(12):2993-2995. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02634-8.

Authors

Lorenzo Leggio¹, Christian S Hendershot², Mehdi Farokhnia³, Anders Fink-Jensen^{4

5}, Mette Kruse Klausen⁴, Joseph P Schacht⁶, W Kyle Simmons^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology Section, Translational Addiction Medicine Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. lorenzo.leggio@nih.gov.
² Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies and Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
³ Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology Section, Translational Addiction Medicine Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁴ Psychiatric Centre Copenhagen, Mental Health Services in the Capitol Region of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁵ Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.
⁷ Department of Pharmacology & Physiology, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, USA.
⁸ OSU Biomedical Imaging Center, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, USA.

Abstract

Preclinical and initial human studies suggest that glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists may be promising treatments for alcohol use disorder, but existing approved treatments should be used until safety and efficacy is demonstrated in clinical trials.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2*
Ethanol
Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists
Humans
Substance-Related Disorders* / drug therapy

Substances

Ethanol
Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding