Research presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress reveals that the GLP-1 drug semaglutide may lower exacerbation rates in asthma and COPD patients, suggesting benefits beyond blood sugar control.
Semaglutide, the GLP-1 drug used to treat type 2 diabetes and widely known by the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, was linked to fewer flare-ups in people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Barcelona. The findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that medicines in this class may do more than improve blood sugar and weight.
Chloe I. Bloom of Imperial College London and colleagues analysed records from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink and compared patients who started semaglutide, liraglutide, dulaglutide, exenatide or lixisenatide with a much larger group who used sulphonylureas, an older type of diabetes medicine. The researchers found that GLP-1 receptor agonists were associated with a 14% lower exacerbation rate overall, with semaglutide showing the strongest signal. Exenatide and dulaglutide were also linked with fewer flare-ups, while liraglutide and lixisenatide were not.
The semaglutide result was particularly striking: it was associated with a 38% reduction in asthma exacerbations and a 21% reduction in COPD exacerbations. The association did not appear to change with age, smoking status, eosinophil count, body-mass index, HbA1c or insulin resistance, and it was not explained by changes in weight or glucose control during treatment. Bloom said the pattern suggests the respiratory benefit may not be solely a by-product of better metabolic health.
The findings fit with earlier research. A systematic review published in Respiratory Medicine reported that GLP-1 receptor agonists were associated with fewer asthma and COPD exacerbations than DPP-4 inhibitors and sulphonylureas, although not clearly better than SGLT-2 inhibitors. Other reviews have suggested that the drugs may influence airway inflammation directly, not just through weight loss. Even so, Bloom cautioned that the results are not enough to justify prescribing semaglutide specifically for asthma or COPD outside current diabetes indications, and said randomised trials are still needed to test whether the association holds in practice.
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