Key Takeaways

From the Authors As published in the article
  1. Preclinical findings and anecdotal reports suggest that semaglutide might be an effective treatment for alcohol use disorder.
  2. In this case series, semaglutide therapy was associated with marked reductions in scores on the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT).
  3. At follow-up, all 6 patients (100%) had AUDIT scores consistent with “low-risk” drinking.
Extended Takeaways
  1. The reduction in alcohol-related symptoms was observed across semaglutide doses used for obesity care: 0.25 mg weekly, 0.5 mg weekly, and 1 mg weekly were represented in this series.
  2. Improvement was seen over variable follow-up intervals ranging from 1 month to 9 months, suggesting clinicians may notice changes in Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test scores relatively early in some patients.
  3. The mean AUDIT score fell from 14.0 ± 3.9 to 4.5 ± 2.0, with a mean [SD] change = 9.5 [2.7] (paired t5 = 8.50, P < .001), providing a quantitative signal that complements the individual case descriptions.
  4. Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test improvement did not appear tightly linked to the degree of weight loss in every case; one patient had only 1% total body weight loss yet a 77% (7-point) reduction in AUDIT score in 1 month.
  5. This series included patients with psychiatric and eating-related comorbidity, including bipolar I disorder, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and binge eating disorder, which may make the signal clinically relevant to real-world obesity medicine populations.
  6. Because one patient was also taking topiramate 100 mg, clinicians should be cautious about attributing the largest AUDIT change solely to semaglutide when interpreting individual responses.
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