Semaglutide, perhaps better known by its brand names Wegovy and Ozempic, has dominated headlines for months. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the medication for type 2 diabetes in December of 2017, but in the past couple years the drug has garnered tremendous attention for its ability to help people lose weight. By 2021, some 2 million people had a prescription for the drug.
Scientists are now learning more about the drug and how it can influence diabetes and obesity and other chronic health conditions like cardiovascular disease, as well as mental health.
A new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine published today in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found that taking semaglutide did not increase the risk of depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts, or suicidal behavior in patients without known major mental health disorders. This finding helps fortify the drug’s safety profile for otherwise healthy patients when it comes to impacts on psychiatric and mental health. The pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, semaglutide’s manufacturer, funded this study.
The team analyzed data from over 3,500 participants across four major clinical trials known as Semaglutide Treatment Effect in People with obesity (STEP) 1, 2, 3, and 4, which were instrumental in gaining FDA approval for weight loss; Novo Nordisk also sponsored STEP. The team examined the first four trials, which lasted 68 weeks between 2018 and 2020, and STEP 5, which lasted 104 weeks between 2018 and 2021. During these trials, adults who were overweight or obese took weekly doses of either 2.4 milligrams of semaglutide or a placebo. Throughout the STEP trials, participants responded to the Patient Health Questionnaire and Columbia–Suicide Severity Rating Scale to gauge depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation and behavior, respectively.
The University of Pennsylvania team found there was no substantial increases in depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation and behavior between the two groups. Crucially, participants were all free of known major mental health disorders, so we can’t draw conclusions from this study about how semaglutide affects those with known conditions.
“Our new analyses provide assurance that the medication, when taken by individuals who are free of significant mental health concerns, does not increase the risk of depression, suicidal thoughts, or suicidal behavior,” said lead author Thomas Wadden, a psychologist at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, in a press release.
The next step for researchers is to investigate how this drug affects individuals with known mental health conditions like major depressive disorder and schizophrenia.
