Drinking without getting drunk could be possible with the help of one of the members of the ‘Ozempic’ family. Perhaps it sounds promising, although there are still trials to verify it and regulatory agencies to approve it. The use of GLP-1 against alcoholism as an addictive disorder was already known.
Now comes the nuance that, in addition, those who take some type of GLP-1It takes longer to feel the effects of alcoholic beverages and they finish experiencing rejection towards them is what caught the attention of Alex DiFeliceantonioprofessor and interim co-director at FBRI’s Center for Health Behaviors Research at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
For this researcher, the nuances are important because she assures that, for the moment, this have only proven that this occurs in patients withobesity who take it against this disease, not in healthy people without any type of addictive disorder or pathology. “When we designed this study, the only clinical trial we had published showed a reduction in alcohol consumption only in overweight and obese individuals, so we focused on this group.”
The results of the pilot trial, published in Scientifics Reports (Science)conclude that patients taking semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide as treatments against diabetes and obesity They experience a delay in the effects that follow alcohol ingestion. Participants who took GLP-1 They reported feeling less intoxicated.
DiFeliceantonio’s initial goal was to study people who consume alcohol, but who did not meet the criteria for alcoholism or addiction disorder. On this criterion, There are already studies that have paid attention. “We wanted to understand How taking a GLP-1 receptor agonist could reduce consumption of alcohol in people who consume it.
What caught your attention about the mechanism of action of GLP-1 and its interaction with alcohol? The brake on the effects of drunkenness. The researcher says that these GLP-1 agonists reduce the speed with which alcohol enters the bloodstream, which also reduces its effects on the brain. How do they do it?
Here DiFeliceantonio explains that “alcohol must reach the brain and cross the blood-brain barrier to have its psychoactive effects (euphoria, feeling of drunkenness, etc.).” This path is done through the blood. Therefore, The slower the alcohol enters the bloodstream, the slower it reaches the command center. It should be remembered that one of the effects of GLP-1 is the delay in gastric emptying, which can cause a slower rise in blood alcohol.
“Therefore, taking a sip of liquor is very different from drinking a glass of wine slowly: it is the same amount of alcohol, but the speed at which it reaches the brain is very different,” highlights the researcher.
How did you observe the brake on the desire to have a drink?
In the pilot study, they raised groups of patients according to the type of medication they were taking, that is, the type of GLP drug (Ozempic, Mounjaro or Saxenda). “They all received the same dose of alcohol in the laboratorycalibrated according to its weight. Everyone had the same time to drink. Therefore, the observed effects were probably due to the consumption of the GLP-1 receptor agonist,” he explains.
To carry out the observations, 20 participants with a BMI of 30 or higher, half on a maintenance dose of GLP-1 and the other half without medication, who were recruited in Roanoke, Virginia, and surrounding areas. They fasted before arriving at the studio and were then given a bar of snack to standardize caloric intake and gastric content.
The researchers measured blood pressure, pulse, breath alcohol concentration and blood glucose levels. About 90 minutes later, Participants were served an alcoholic drink that they had to consume within 10 minutes.. Afterwards, breath alcohol was measured and volunteers answered questions about cravings, appetite, effects of alcohol and taste. For example, they were asked to rate, on a scale of 0 to 10, “How drunk do you feel now?” This was repeated three times for 60 minutes.
After the session, participants remained in a recovery room while the alcohol was metabolized. Breath alcohol was measured every 30 minutesblood glucose was measured twice, and three hours after the session, participants answered subjective questions again. After four hours, with a breath alcohol content below 0.02% and with the approval of the study doctor, the volunteers withdrew.
The researchers decided to do this trial after an analysis of publications on the social network Redditwhere users told their personal experiences. Most point to a reduction in the desire to drink alcohol when taking medications to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity. The idea for the study initially arose during a faculty retreat at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and was led by Warren Bickel, professor and director of the Addiction Recovery Research Center, who died in 2024.
DiFeliceantonio underscores Bickel’s work long focused on what happens when rewards are delayed. “So we asked ourselves: ‘What if GLP-1 affected the way the body processes alcohol? Finishing this project was bittersweet, because it was my last collaboration with him,” he laments.
Future scenarios and pending tasks
The co -director of the FBRI’s Center for Health Behaviors Research explains that this pilot trial is a good start to propose new steps in the certification of the use of LPG to moderate alcohol intake. In this sense, leaves on the table the need for future studies to compare the action of GLP-1 with other medicines designed to help reduce alcohol consumption (such as naltrexone and acamprosate).
“Future randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness of these drugs in the treatment of alcohol use disorder should include placebo or standard treatments,” specifies DiFeliceantonio, while clarifying that “the goal of this study was to begin to understand how GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs reduce alcohol consumption. Follow-up studies are needed to fully delve into the mechanism.”
What will the next studies be like? The researcher confesses that at the moment they are not carrying out any randomized controlled trials to examine the effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists on reducing alcohol consumption. “Some have been previously published, but more studies are needed,” he says.