Weight-loss drug and opioid addiction
Opioids can be taken in the form of heroin or fentanyl, but they can also be prescribed to 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧, such as oxycodone, tramadol, morphine, or codeine. These drugs present a 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 and can lead to death if 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. In 2019, 𝟖𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬 attributed to drug use were 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐬, and due to overdose in 25% of cases, according to the World Health Organization.
Preliminary results from a small clinical trial showed that liraglutide, a 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭-𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠 that mimics the action of GLP-1, would 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 in people with opioid use disorder. In addition, adverse events did not significantly differ between the liraglutide and placebo groups, although 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 were twice as frequent in the liraglutide group.
The results of this study must be 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, as the number of patients was small and the study conditions 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. However, these data constitute a 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭, and this issue will certainly be studied in larger clinical trials.