According to the results of a new study, people who take the weight loss and diabetes drug semaglutide, sold under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic, have a significantly reduced risk of developing alcohol use disorder (AUD) compared to people who use other weight loss drugs.

As part of the study, which was carried out by researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and followed 83,825 patients with obesity for one year after they began taking semaglutide or other weight loss drugs as part of treatment.

The results of the study were published in the scientific journal Nature Communications and revealed that 0.37% of study participants who were taking semaglutide developed AUD by the end of the study, compared to 0.73% of people taking other weight loss drugs, which corresponds to a 50% decrease of developing AUD for the semaglutide group.

What’s more, for study participants with a history of AUD, relapsing was also less common with semaglutide, occurring for 22.6% of participants on this drug compared with 43% of people taking other weight loss medications, which corresponds to a 56% reduction of risk of relapse for patients who take semaglutide. Importantly, these results were replicated in the study population with 598,803 patients with type 2 diabetes.

Furthermore, the effects of semaglutide on alcohol addiction were more significant compared to those of naltrexone and topiramate, two other anti-addiction drugs that are also used for weight loss. Specifically, the study results showed that participants without a history of AUD were 56% less likely to develop it when taking semaglutide compared to naltrexone or topiramate. In addition, participants with a history of AUD were 75% less likely to relapse when taking semaglutide.

“To our knowledge, this is the largest study [of this kind] done so far,” said Dr. Rung Xu, professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and study’s principal investigator, in his interview with New Scientist. “This is a strong indication this medication may be beneficial for both preventing and treating alcohol use disorders.”

It is thought that semaglutide reduces alcohol cravings via the same mechanism that it reduces food cravings. Specifically, this medication mimics the hormone GLP-1, which helps the pancreas release insulin when the body needs it. In addition, it interrupts signals in the brain that create the desire for reward, such as the feeling of reward produced by consuming food and alcohol.

“These findings provide evidence of the potential benefit of semaglutide in AUD in real-world populations and call for further randomized clinical trials,” the study’s authors conclude.