Early clinical trial results show that apitegromab dramatically reduced lean mass loss among people taking tirzepatide, addressing a growing concern tied to rapid weight loss<\/p>\n
GLP-1 drugs have disrupted the fitness and wellness industry across the board. Some gym and studio operators have adapted their training approaches<\/a> to cater to those taking the medication, while others have embraced them wholeheartedly, even offering in-house prescriptions<\/a>.<\/p>\n But as the medications become more ubiquitous, concerns have arisen about the rapid weight loss that often leads to unwanted loss of muscle mass, which could adversely affect people\u2019s health. <\/p>\n A new drug could target that exact issue, however, according to research published in Nature<\/a> this week. The clinical trial found that taking the monoclonal antibody apitegromab can help people retain lean body mass while taking tirzepatide (the main ingredient in Mounjaro).<\/p>\n In a group of 102 adults, half were administered apitegromab plus tirzepatide, and the half a placebo with tirzepatide.<\/p>\n The researchers found that despite similar total body weight loss between groups over the 24-week study, those taking apitegromab maintained a 54.9% greater retention of lean mass compared to the placebo cohort. The drug works by blocking myostatin, a protein that can inhibit muscle growth.<\/p>\n Lean muscle loss can comprise 25\u221240% of total weight loss during GLP-1 therapy, the researchers pointed out. Among the placebo group, lean mass loss took up about 30% of total weight loss\u00a0\u2014 but those taking apitegromab only had 14.6% of total weight loss attributed to lean mass.<\/p>\n Since higher lean body mass \u2014 especially skeletal muscle \u2014 is associated with a higher metabolism, improved insulin sensitivity and lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, this new drug could be a crucial breakthrough for those taking GLP-1s.<\/p>\n The study authors pointed out that since the trial was relatively short-term, further studies need to be conducted to understand long-term effects and safety. The group was also fairly small and comprised mostly women, presenting limitations for how results could translate into a wider population.<\/p>\n Physical activity is key to maintaining muscle mass while taking GLP-1s. And it\u2019s not just gyms encouraging people on the medications to work out<\/a> \u2014 six leading global fitness bodies came together<\/a> earlier this year to push for GLP-1s to be integrated into care models that prioritize exercise and nutrition. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Early clinical trial results show that apitegromab dramatically reduced lean mass loss among people taking tirzepatide, addressing a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,51520,84,1779,795,953],"class_list":["post-729597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-glp-1s","tag-health","tag-mounjaro","tag-study","tag-weight-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}