A new study suggests an RNA-based therapy could help semaglutide target more fat while reducing the lean-muscle loss associated with GLP-1 weight loss.
GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy have revolutionized weight loss for millions, but along with fat loss, many who take the medication also experience muscle loss.
Losing some lean muscle mass is inevitable when shedding a significant amount of total body weight, but maintaining muscle integrity is vital to keeping that weight off. Significant muscle loss has shown to slow metabolism. It can also increase inflammation, cause fatigue, and reduce strength, overall complicating the weight loss process.
A new study on RNA-based treatment out
A new study on RNA-based treatment out of Northwestern University has shown promise in sparring muscle mass and encouraging body fat loss. The experimental therapy utilizes a strand of RNA that silences the ZFP423 gene, which slows white fat’s ability to become energy-burning beige fat.
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Researchers tested the therapy in mice, which yielded encouraging results published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Mice taking the RNA therapy alone lost weight, but when combined with a semaglutide drug the weight loss was even more significant while preserving lean mass. Mice taking both drugs lost just 5.5 percent of their lean muscle mass whereas mice taking only a semaglutide lost 10 percent.
“We have identified, for the first time, an RNA therapy that promotes thermogenesis and, when combined with the GLP-1 drug semaglutide, helps preserve lean muscle mass,” Joseph Bass, the study’s senior author and director of the center for diabetes and metabolism at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a press release.
Unlike appetite-suppressive therapies that reduce fat and lean
“Unlike appetite-suppressive therapies that reduce fat and lean mass,” the study explained, “Zfp423-targeting ASO preserves lean mass while reducing [body fat].”
Mice in the study overall lost more body fat when taking both treatments. While mice on semaglutide alone retained an average of 8 grams of body fat, the mice taking both only had 4 grams of body fat remaining. Aside from actual weight loss, the mice on the RNA therapy exhibited better metabolic health and glucose tolerance as well.
Ionis Pharmaceuticals, which specializes in RNA-based therapies, helped Bass and his research team develop the drug. In the next phase of research, the theory will be tested on human cells. Northwestern filed a provisional patent application for the experimental drug.
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