Once-a-week weight-loss shot may help ease sleep apnea

A weekly injection of the experimental weight-loss drug retatrutide cut breathing pauses in adults with obstructive sleep apnea in two large studies.

The benefit was seen in participants both with and without type 2 diabetes, pointing to a possible new option for adults who also have overweight or obesity.

Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the airway repeatedly narrows or closes during sleep. Breathing slows or briefly stops, which can leave people feeling tired during the day even after a full night in bed.

Extra body weight can contribute to the condition, so the researchers set out to see whether a drug that promotes weight loss might also help people breathe more easily while asleep.

Retatrutide works on three hormone receptors involved in appetite, blood sugar, and how the body uses energy.

The studies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, included 243 adults without type 2 diabetes and 448 with the condition. All had moderate to severe sleep apnea and a body mass index of at least 27.

Participants were randomly assigned to receive one of three doses of retatrutide or a placebo injection once a week. Neither the participants nor the study teams knew which treatment was being given during the trial.

Researchers tracked how often breathing stopped or slowed during each hour of sleep. At the outset, participants averaged roughly 56 to 59 events an hour, depending on the study.

By the end of the trial period, people without diabetes who received either of the two higher doses had about 32 to 34 fewer breathing interruptions per hour. Those given placebo had about 10 fewer.

In the study involving people with type 2 diabetes, the two higher doses lowered interruptions by about 25 an hour, compared with about 10 in the placebo group. The lowest dose also reduced breathing interruptions more than placebo in both studies.

Across both trials, 39% to 52% of people on the higher doses improved enough to have either no sleep apnea or only mild sleep apnea without excessive daytime sleepiness. About 13% of those receiving placebo reached that level.

Participants also lost weight. Across the three doses, average weight loss ranged from about 12% to 22% in the study without diabetes and 12% to 19% in the study with diabetes, compared with about 5% to 6% in the control groups.

Digestive side effects were the most common. Eli Lilly funded both trials, which compared the drug with placebo and did not directly test it against established treatments such as positive airway pressure, which keeps the airway open during sleep.

The findings apply to the adults enrolled in the studies. Longer follow-up may show how much of the benefit lasts, and more research could help determine where the drug fits alongside existing sleep apnea care.

If you are interested in this topic, please read articles about Weight Loss Drugs Like Ozempic May Lower Death Risk in Sleep Apnea, and Sleep Apnea Linked to Much Higher Heart Disease Risk and Death Risk.

For more information, please see articles about Why Sleep Apnea Is Linked to High Blood Pressure, and Breathing Device Reduces Death Risk in People with Type 2 Diabetes and Sleep Apnea.

Source: Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Macquarie University.