Patients with type 2 diabetes who took semaglutide, the drug marketed as Ozempic and Wegovy, had markedly fewer asthma attacks and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease flare-ups than similar patients on an older class of diabetes medication, according to research presented this month at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Barcelona. The findings come from an abstract, not yet a full peer-reviewed paper, and were first detailed by Healio's conference coverage.
The analysis, led by Chloe Bloom of the National Heart & Lung Institute at Imperial College London, drew on UK primary-care records covering 1,493 people who started semaglutide and more than 20,000 who instead started a sulfonylurea, an older diabetes drug, along with smaller comparison groups on other GLP-1 medicines such as liraglutide, dulaglutide, exenatide and lixisenatide. Compared with sulfonylurea users, semaglutide starters had a 38 percent reduction in asthma exacerbations and a 21 percent reduction in COPD exacerbations; the effect was weaker for the other GLP-1 drugs studied.
An open question about why
Researchers say the drop could partly reflect weight loss easing mechanical strain on the airways, since obesity is a known risk factor for worse asthma control. But they also point to laboratory evidence that GLP-1 receptors are present in lung tissue, raising the possibility of a direct anti-inflammatory effect on the airway disease that underlies both asthma and COPD. That mechanism remains a hypothesis; this study, drawn from prescribing and diagnosis records rather than lab measurements, was not designed to test it.
The comparison sits against the backdrop of semaglutide's rapid rise as one of the most widely prescribed drugs of the past several years, initially for diabetes and increasingly for weight loss, which has prompted a wave of research into side effects and possible additional benefits well beyond its original purpose.
The effect was strongest with semaglutide, especially in people with asthma, where use of semaglutide appears to be associated with nearly a 40% reduction in asthma attacks.
Chloe Bloom, Imperial College London
The study is observational: it compares outcomes among people who happened to be prescribed different diabetes drugs rather than randomly assigning treatment, so differences in body weight, disease severity or other health habits between the groups could account for some of the gap. Bloom cautioned that patients should not start GLP-1 drugs specifically to treat asthma or COPD outside current prescribing guidance, and the researchers say the results justify — but do not replace — randomized clinical trials designed to test the effect directly.
