Study Finds Ozempic Could Potentially Treat Substance Use Disorders

A recent study published by Loyola researchers found GLP-1 receptor agonists, medications such as Ozempic that are typically used to treat type 2 diabetes, have potential to be used in treating alcohol and opioid overuse disorders.

Fares Qeadan, lead researcher of the study and associate professor in the Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, said patients who took medications like Ozempic showed a significant reduction in overdose and addiction compared with those who didn’t.

The study found a 40% reduction in opioid overdoses as well as a 50% reduction in alcohol intoxication for those in the study who took the medication.

“The findings from our study suggest that GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as Ozempic, may have a broader therapeutic role beyond their traditional use for diabetes and obesity,” Qeadan said. “These medications seem to impact the brain’s reward pathways, which are also implicated in addictive behaviors.”

Qeadan said his research collected data from 136 healthcare systems across 50 states and adjusted for a wide array of confounding variables such as sex, age, race, insurance and comorbidities. 

“We have our data from the Oracle Cerner Real World database, which is a massive database that has data on 100 million unique patients in the United States,” Qeadan said. “So looking at the cohort of opioid use disorder, we identified 500,000 people, and looking at the alcohol use disorder, we identified 800,000. So together, 1.3 million.”

Dean of Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, Elaine Morrato, said the emerging style of research is opening up new ways of understanding human health and the unique possibilities of drugs like Ozempic.

“Advances in biostatistics and pharmacoepidemiology, like Dr. Qedan’s study, are leveraging existing electronic health data, like data from our health records or insurance claims, for faster assessment of new benefits or new safety concerns,” Morrato said. 

Loyola’s Health Science and Public Health program is pioneering a biostatistics track focused on digital health data through collaboration with other schools at the university, according to Morrato. 

“We have a Health Informatics Data Science department that is working closely with the College of Arts and Science computer science program,” Morrato said. “It’s through these different disciplines coming together, looking at these kinds of data in different ways, that we get better results.”

Based on the significance of the study’s findings, Qeadan said he expects clinical trials to begin very soon. 

“If further research confirms these results, it could reshape how we approach addiction treatment,” Qeadan said. “Potentially offering a new class of medications that work differently from current treatments.”