Overweight or obese rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients taking a GLP-1 saw reductions in their RA symptoms, pain, body weight, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, compared with the control group, according to a recent study published in ACR Open Rheumatology.

A team of researchers, including corresponding author Veena Ranganath, M.D., MS, of the University of California, Los Angeles, examined the medical records of obese and overweight RA patients prescribed GLP-1 agonist drugs and identified 229 patients with a BMI of at least 27. Patients in the treatment cohort were given either subcutaneous semaglutide (84%), oral semaglutide (8%) or subcutaneous tirzepatide (8%).

Of the 173 obese or overweight patients who took their prescribed GLP-1s, 32% saw improvement in their RA symptoms over

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