aidsmap news story
Popular GLP-1 weight-loss medications generally work well for people living with HIV, and they may improve liver, gut and cardiovascular health and reduce smoking, along with their well-known benefits for obesity and diabetes, according to studies presented at CROI 2026. However, much remains to be learned about their long-term use.
“With the exception of antiretroviral therapy, I can’t think of another class of medications where there has been so much buzz,” Dr Todd Brown of Johns Hopkins Medicine said during his plenary talk entitled ‘GLP-1 Agonists: Are They a Cure for Everything?’ He concluded that the enthusiasm is warranted, but there are unanswered questions for people with HIV and “global access will be a major challenge.”
Weight gain and metabolic abnormalities are a growing concern for people with HIV as they age. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, including semaglutide (Ozempic or Wegovy), mimic a natural hormone that suppresses appetite, regulates insulin and blood sugar and slows emptying of the stomach. Tirzepatide (Mounjaro or Zepbound) targets both GLP-1 and another gut hormone, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide. Originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, these drugs are now widely used to manage obesity. They have been shown to reduce the risk of heart and kidney disease and some types of cancer, improve sleep apnoea and arthritis pain, and they are being studied for fatty liver disease, addiction and other conditions.
Read the full news story here.
SEE ALSO:
CROI 2026: Full coverage
Source : aidsmap
Related HIV and Co-Infections News
-
ACTG launches landmark study evaluating treatments for depressive disorders with or without mild neurocognitive disorder among people living with HIV
-
Florida International University: HIV disrupts lung “clock,” raising COPD and emphysema risk
-
ESCMID: HIV treatment reduces accelerated biological aging by nearly four years, landmark study shows
Get involved
Are you living with HIV/AIDS? Are you part of a community affected by HIV/AIDS and co-infections? Do you work or volunteer in the field? Are you motivated by our cause and interested to support our work?
Subscribe
Stay in the loop and get all the important EATG updates in your inbox with the EATG newsletter. The HIV & co-infections bulletin is your source of handpicked news from the field arriving regularly to your inbox.