Semaglutide relieved knee pain in obese patients
A randomized clinical trial by Danish, Canadian and Norwegian scientists has shown that semaglutide significantly reduces pain syndrome in patients with obesity and osteoarthritis of the knee joint. As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, pain intensity was reduced by an average of one and a half times.
Osteoarthritis of the knee leads to chronic pain, decreased mobility, disability and reduced quality of life. Obesity is considered a major risk factor for the development and progression of knee osteoarthritis due to increased mechanical stress on the joints, metabolic dysfunction, and obesity-induced inflammation. In this case, weight loss alleviates the symptoms of osteoarthritis.
In a study led by Henning Bliddal of the University of Copenhagen, a team of doctors tested in a randomized clinical trial whether the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist semaglutide, administered weekly subcutaneously at a dose of 2.4 milligrams, alleviated symptoms of knee osteoarthritis in obese patients. Semaglutide and placebo were used as an adjunct to lifestyle modification in reducing body weight and pain associated with knee osteoarthritis.
A total of 407 participants were included in the study, with 271 in the semaglutide group and 136 in the placebo group. At baseline, the average body weight was 108.6 kilograms, body mass index was 40.3, and the pain score on the WOMAC scale, which assesses the severity of osteoarthritis (the higher the score, the worse the functional status of the knee joint), was 70.9.
After 68 weeks, the mean reduction in body weight from baseline was 13.7 percent in the semaglutide group and 3.2 percent in the placebo group (p < 0.001). A greater percentage of participants in the semaglutide group than in the placebo group had a reduction in body weight of at least 15 percent (47.8 percent vs. 2.5 percent) and at least 20 percent (23.3 percent vs. 0 percent). The mean reduction in WOMAC score from baseline at week 68 was 41.7 points in the semaglutide group and 27.5 points in the placebo group (p < 0.001). A greater proportion of participants in the semaglutide group also had a reduction in WOMAC pain score of at least 30 percent and at least 50 percent.
This randomized study supports the feasibility of subcutaneous administration of semaglutide once weekly for weight loss and pain management in patients with obesity and knee osteoarthritis. These results may be useful in deciding on treatment options for obesity-related knee osteoarthritis.