A new study has found a possible link between curbing addiction and the use of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, which are widely used for weight and blood sugar management.
The study was led by researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso's School of Pharmacy, and the results were published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.
The researchers, as reported by UTEP Newsfeed, found that people taking these medications had lower rates of alcohol, opioid, nicotine, and cocaine use disorders. The study reviewed more than 142,000 cases involving patients with obesity or Type 2 diabetes.
About 20,000 of those patients had also been prescribed GLP-1 medications, and researchers compared their outcomes with similar patients who were not using the drugs to assess the likelihood of developing substance use disorders.
The analysis found that GLP-1 users had 74% lower odds of having alcohol use disorder, 69% lower odds of opioid use disorder, 68% lower odds of nicotine use disorder, and 75% lower odds of cocaine use disorder.
While GLP-1 drugs were first created to treat diabetes and obesity, scientists are now exploring whether they also influence dopamine signaling and other brain pathways connected to cravings and reward.
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The findings suggest that a medication already used by many patients could eventually play a broader role in treatment, though that possibility is still far from confirmed.
The researchers emphasized that this was an observational study, meaning it found an association rather than proving that GLP-1 drugs directly prevented substance misuse. Any broader use in treatment would likely depend on whether future clinical trials confirm the effect.
Lead author Tadesse Abegaz told UTEP Newsfeed: "Our findings add to growing evidence that GLP-1 medications may influence more than appetite and blood sugar regulation." He added, "These medications appear to affect brain pathways involved in reward and craving, which could help explain the lower rates of substance use disorders observed in our study."
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