How do GLP-1 drugs work for weight loss . . . and everything else?

Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists like semaglutide (Wegovy/Ozempic) are constantly in the news for their staggering slimming effects. But it’s becoming clear that there is more to this drug class than weight loss.GLP-1 receptor agonists were once thought to be simple insulin regulators. Now, they’re known to act on the kidneys, heart, liver, brain, and more. “I think it’s absolutely fascinating and definitely very unusual that the potential indications are expanding so dramatically,” says Lorenzo Leggio, a neurologist and clinical director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program in Baltimore.“In today’s era of drug development, which is often largely driven by genetics, GLP-1 doesn’t stand out genetically,” says Daniel Drucker, professor of medicine at the Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and one of the discoverers of GLP-1’s first actions (for diabetes) in the 1980s. “We’re lucky to have the [unusual] pharmacology of…
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