Weight-loss drugs like Mounjaro and Ozempic are becoming increasingly popular, with new innovations like a weight loss pill entering the market demonstrating the depth of demand.
Now, new research suggests that the choice of which weight loss treatment to try should come down to your biology, not your size.
Published in Cell Metabolism, a new study shows that a simple DNA test could help predict how people will respond to different weight loss drugs, including GLP-1s.
The quick test gives information on an individual’s calorie to satiation (CTS). This gives doctors more information on how much food it takes for a person to feel full and can help to link that biological trait to treatment success.
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How was the study carried out?
The study is based on results from just under 800 adults with obesity, where they were asked to eat as much as they wanted of lasagna, pudding, and milk.
They were told to eat until they were very full, which came after different levels of calorific intake between different people.
For some, feeling full came after just 140 calories, while for others it happened after 2,100.
These behaviours indicate two eating patterns previously identified by the study’s senior author, Andres Acosta, which include hungry brain, where people tend to eat very large meals, and hungry gut, where people tend to eat smaller portions more often.
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The researchers in the study found that various factors like body weight, height, body fat percentage, waist-to-hip ratio, age, and appetite-related hormones such as ghrelin and leptin, seemed to play a small role in people’s eating habits.
From there, the team theorised that genetics could tell them more about what influences food in takes.
They devised a metric that pulled all those factors into one measurable level, known as the CTS-GRS (Calories to Satiation Genetic Risk Score).
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This can be calculated from a blood or saliva sample and used to estimate an individual’s expected satiation threshold.
It has been used in clinical trials of two FDA-approved medications: a first-generation weight loss drug, phentermine-topiramate, and a newer GLP-1 drug called liraglutide.
Those with a high satiation threshold lost more weight using the first-gen drug, while the newer GLP-1 drug was better for those with a lower satiation threshold.
The research, conducted by Mayo Clinic researchers, underlines the importance of personalised prescriptions when it comes to weight loss medications.
