Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-23-2023
Abstract
People with overweight or obesity often suffer from associated cardiometabolic diseases and comorbidities. Current therapies for obesity include lifestyle intervention, bariatric surgery, and pharmacotherapy. The magnitude of weight loss achieved with these therapies can determine the level of improvement in various comorbidities. Once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 mg is a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of obesity. This article reviews data from the global phase 3 Semaglutide Treatment Effect in People with obesity (STEP) program, comparing the efficacy of once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 mg versus placebo for weight loss and improvements in cardiometabolic parameters across the STEP 1 to 5 trials. In STEP 1 to 3 and STEP 5, semaglutide led to greater reductions from baseline versus placebo in body weight, waist circumference, body mass index, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure, as well as positive changes in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), C-reactive protein, and lipid levels. In STEP 4, all participants had a 20-week run-in period on semaglutide before either continuing on semaglutide or switching to placebo at week 20 in a 2:1 ratio for 48 weeks. At week 68, continued semaglutide led to further reductions from week 20 in HbA1c, improvements in lipid profile, and stabilization of SBP. Overall, across the STEP trials, treatment with semaglutide 2.4 mg versus placebo improved cardiometabolic risk factors associated with obesity, illustrating an effective treatment option for people with overweight (and associated comorbidities) or obesity.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Amaro, Anastassia; Skolnik, Neil S.; and Sugimoto, Danny, "Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Efficacy of Semaglutide in the STEP Program" (2023). Abington Jefferson Health Papers. Paper 73.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/abingtonfp/73
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author's final published version in Postgraduate Medicine, Volume 134, Jan. 2023, Pg. 18 - 27.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1080/00325481.2022.2147325. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.