The first studies suggest that GLP-1 can improve Mpoc symptoms

People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (MPOC) often live with several overlapping health problems. Clinicians can prescribe a mixture of inhaled steroids and other drugs to improve their pulmonary function, as well as high blood sugar drugs and blood pressure.

To rationalize the treatment of MPOC patients, researchers are turning more and more on successful GLP-1 drugs, such as Wegovy and Zepbound, who have proven to be attacked by several health problems at the same time. The first observation studies suggest that these GLP-1 drugs can also mitigate symptoms and improve the quality of life of mpoc patients.

“Our patients with MPOC have several comorbidities: type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, hyperlipidemia. Many of these things are interaction,” said Daniel Meza, MD, a pulmonologist and an intensive care doctor at Northwest Medicine. “If we manage other comorbidities with MPOC, we hope that everything continues to improve – or at least stabilize – to have a better quality of life in the future.”

Until now, research has been sparse. Current studies are approaching if there is a significant link between the consumption of GLP-1 drugs and improving the results of the MPOC. Future research will have to disentangle whether GLP-1 directly affects the lungs or simply helps by managing comorbidities.

“For the moment, this drug is not part of our guidelines to specifically treat MPOC,” said Meza. “Continue your current MPOC drugs and discuss with your pulmonologist what therapy led by guidelines is available to treat your MPOC.”

GLP-1 can be more beneficial for pulmonary health than other diabetes drugs

The only randomized controlled trial listed on Clinicaltrials.Gov which demonstrates an effect of GLP-1 on Mpoc is a 2020 study of 40 people in Denmark. Participants who have taken Liraglutide for 40 weeks showed improvements in certain pulmonary function measurements, such as the capacity to expire with air force and transfer the gas from air to their blood circulation.

Although this study is not sufficient to establish a relationship between GLP-1 and MPOC drugs, the results are supported by certain observation studies.

One of these studies compared new users of GLP-1 drugs to those who have used other type 2 diabetes against diabetes. Mpoc thrusts were 50% higher in people who used DPP-4 inhibitors than those who consumed GLP-1 medications, while thrusts among those who use sulfonylua were twice as common.

This research is a first step to understand if GLP-1 drugs have a different effect from that of other type 2 diabetes against diabetes, said the first author Dinah Foer, MD, allergist and immunologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Deputy Professor at the Harvard Medical School.

A 2024 study revealed that metformin, another drug against diabetes, reduces the risk of exacerbations in asthmatic people by 30%. The addition of a cutting of GLP-1 drugs risks 40%.

“The common observation in all studies has been a signal to suggest the potential association between the initiation of the agonists of the GLP-1 receptor and the improvement of the exacerbation results of the MPOC,” she said.

How could GLP-1s help with MPOC?

There are several hypothetical ways of GLP-1 drugs could benefit the lungs. For example, drugs seem to suppress inflammation throughout the body, which could reduce the number of harmful inflammatory cells that migrate into the lungs. This process can also reduce the restructuring of the respiratory tract which can worsen the pulmonary function.

Drugs can also have antioxidant effects, neutralizing some of the harmful chemicals that enter the lungs by cigarette smoke and environmental pollution.

“There will not be a special mechanism. I really think it’s going to be multifactorial,” said Foer. “The fact that these patients lose significant amounts of weight and have better cardiometabolic health, glycemic control, etc. – all this will be important.”

Many current studies only include people with type 2. diabetes. However, the most popular GLP-1 drugs, shooting and semaglutide are also approved to treat people with obesity or overweight without diabetes.

Studying these drugs in people with obesity but not diabetes can help researchers unravel if drugs improve pulmonary function by treating diabetes, reducing excess weight or by directly handling the lungs.

“When you are overweight, you have more difficulty breathing. One of the important things to disentangle is: is the benefit of these drugs on the respiratory results linked to obesity management, or is it linked to the management of something intrinsic to their pulmonary disease? ” said Bradley Drummond, MD, MHS, professor of medicine and director of the clinical research center and translational obstructive pulmonary diseases at the Northern Carolina University School.

Would GLP-1 be safe for patients with mpoc?

Foer said that if GLP-1 medications are going to be beneficial for patients with mpoc, they may not be sure for everyone. Some people with obstructive respiratory tract disease also develop cachexia – a disease that causes significant weight and muscle loss. For these patients, a drug with a potential for weight loss could be harmful, she said.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania recruit participants for a test testing if people with advanced pulmonary disease, including MPOC, can tolerate semaglutide, drug sold like Ozempic and Wegovy.

“Patients should always discuss their use of drugs with their doctors. Even if they think:” I started this new thing for type two diabetes, it’s probably unimportant for Mpoc “, they should always talk about it, because we are constantly learning new things,” said Foer.

Where is the search for here

There is a lot of diversity in the way Mpoc is manifested. Patients are often grouped by shared characteristics and clinical results. Some MPOC treatments tend to work better for people with certain biomarkers or characteristics than others. Drummond said that researchers were far from whether this is also relevant to GLP-1 medications.

“My speculation would be that those who have other increased comorbidities, such as substantial obesity or the risk of cardiovascular disease, may be the most likely to benefit. But I do not think that we are where we have biomarkers who could still predict which patients would be the most reactive,” said Drummond.

Drummond said that he expects to see more important observation studies to understand the effects of GLP-1 at the level of the population. In the end, there will probably be randomized controlled trials with the results of the MPOC as the main criterion for evaluating these studies. “This is what it will take to really obtain a specific indication for MPOC,” he said.

Foer said that the simple fact of focusing on the link between type 2 diabetes and Mpoc is useful for treating patients. Steroidal drugs that are often used to treat MPOC can exacerbate weight gain and diabetes. Finding ways to break the cycle of MPOC and diabetes – by reducing the overuse of steroids and the treatment of diabetes – could improve results for patients.

“I just hope that with more attention to the population who has these two diseases, we can improve care. We can make pulmonologists speak to endocrinologists who speak to primary care to work together to improve these patients who have multimorbidity and polypharmacy, “said Foer. “It is a much broader and more important long -term objective which, I think, will be an important result of all this work.”