Babak J Orandi, Leila Yan, Macey L Levan, Holly F Lofton, Karan R Chhabra, Christine J Ren-Fielding, S Ali Husain, Mara A McAdams-DeMarco, Dorry L Segev, Michal A Mankowski, Allan B Massie
{"title":"Trends in GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Prescribing Without an Apparent FDA-Approved Indication.","authors":"Babak J Orandi, Leila Yan, Macey L Levan, Holly F Lofton, Karan R Chhabra, Christine J Ren-Fielding, S Ali Husain, Mara A McAdams-DeMarco, Dorry L Segev, Michal A Mankowski, Allan B Massie","doi":"10.1002/oby.70301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.70301","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study evaluated temporal trends and patient characteristics associated with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist prescribing among US adults without an apparent FDA-approved indication.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective cohort study used Cosmos electronic health records (01/2021-12/2025). Adults prescribed liraglutide, semaglutide, or tirzepatide without a documented indication (type 2 diabetes or obesity with qualifying comorbidities) were included. Patients without a recorded weight ≥ 6 months prior to first prescription were excluded. Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared using t-tests and χ<sup>2</sup> tests.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among 92,415,648 adults without an apparent FDA-approved indication, 1,133,953 (1.2%) were prescribed GLP-1 receptor agonists. Prescribing increased from 0.1% in 2021 to 1.5% in 2025 (15-fold). Recipients had higher median BMI (25.9 vs. 24.5 kg/m<sup>2</sup>) and were more often female (85.5%) and White (60.0%). Hypertension and dyslipidemia were more common, while coronary artery disease and heart failure were less prevalent. Notably, 35.1% had normal BMI; eating disorders were more frequent (1.8% vs. 0.3%). GLP-1 receptor agonist use was associated with lower social vulnerability and private insurance.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>GLP-1 receptor agonist prescribing without an apparent FDA-approved indication has increased rapidly and disproportionately involves socioeconomically advantaged populations, including individuals without obesity. The risk-benefit profile in these populations remains uncertain.</p>","PeriodicalId":94163,"journal":{"name":"Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149019280","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Reagan E Garcia, Jason Fanning, Chaeryon Kang, Bonny Rockette-Wagner, Christopher E Kline, Barbara J Nicklas, Nancy W Glynn
{"title":"Weight Loss and Physical Activity Reduces Perceived Physical Fatigability Among Older Adults With Obesity.","authors":"Reagan E Garcia, Jason Fanning, Chaeryon Kang, Bonny Rockette-Wagner, Christopher E Kline, Barbara J Nicklas, Nancy W Glynn","doi":"10.1002/oby.70298","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.70298","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to evaluate the impact of three lifestyle interventions on perceived physical fatigability.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Concurrent with a dietary weight loss program (caloric deficit ~400 kcal/day, weekly dietitian support), older adults with obesity (N = 183) were randomized to three groups: aerobic exercise (150-200 min/week of moderate-intensity treadmill walking; n = 60), daylong movement (improving daily activity distribution, progressively increase steps/day; n = 63), or combination (aerobic and daylong movement interventions; n = 60). Perceived physical fatigability (Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale [PFS] Physical score, range 0-50, and Rating of Perceived Exertion [RPE] after a 5-min 0% grade treadmill walk, range 6-20; higher = greater fatigability) was measured at baseline, 6 months (post-intensive intervention), and 18 months (end of maintenance period).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Participants (69.6 ± 4.3 years, 77% female, 74% White, 35.6 ± 3.8 kg/m<sup>2</sup> BMI) had a PFS Physical score 20.6 ± 7.6 and RPE Fatigability 9.6 ± 1.9 at baseline. Clinically relevant improvements were observed in PFS score from baseline to 6 months (-4.4 points, p = 0.002) and were largely maintained at 18 months (-3.0 points, p = 0.03) after adjustment for baseline age, sex, education, intervention group, and time × intervention group (p = 0.83). RPE Fatigability did not improve (p > 0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Multiple physical activity strategies in conjunction with weight loss improved perceived physical fatigability over time among older adults with obesity.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02923674.</p>","PeriodicalId":94163,"journal":{"name":"Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148922145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Miaomiao Zhu, Fan Yang, Jia Guo, Yifan Wang, Qian Wang, Qingyin Bu, Longhu Sun, Zhazheng He, Tianchen Qi, Junru Zhu, Gaoming Tang, Shuang Liang, Honggang Yi, Juncheng Dai
{"title":"Joint Effects of Long-Term Obesity and Genetic Susceptibility on Sex-Specific Brain Aging.","authors":"Miaomiao Zhu, Fan Yang, Jia Guo, Yifan Wang, Qian Wang, Qingyin Bu, Longhu Sun, Zhazheng He, Tianchen Qi, Junru Zhu, Gaoming Tang, Shuang Liang, Honggang Yi, Juncheng Dai","doi":"10.1002/oby.70304","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.70304","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to examine the associations of longitudinal obesity trajectories and polygenic risk with sex-specific brain aging.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We analyzed 35,092 UK Biobank participants (16,484 males and 18,608 females). Sex-specific XGBoost models estimated multimodal brain age. We derived 16-year longitudinal obesity trajectories from repeatedly collected anthropometric measurements. Polygenic risk scores were constructed based on 55 independent genetic loci. Multivariable logistic regression examined associations of obesity trajectories and genetic risk with brain age acceleration.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 8198 (49.73%) males and 9089 (48.84%) females had accelerated brain aging. High genetic risk significantly increased brain age acceleration odds (males: OR = 1.39; females: OR = 1.34). Crucially, the high-stable obesity trajectory exerted a stronger effect in males (OR = 1.90, 95% CI: 1.64-2.21) than in females (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.12-1.40), with the joint presence of high genetic risk and high-stable obesity amplifying risk to an OR of 2.78 in males and 1.57 in females. Conversely, shifting from obesity to non-obesity reduced risk by 30% in males and 18% in females.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings underscore long-term obesity as a critical, sex-dimorphic driver of accelerated brain aging, and midlife weight management offers robust neuroprotection even in genetically susceptible individuals.</p>","PeriodicalId":94163,"journal":{"name":"Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148901788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How the Sea Salt Chocolate Cookie Became a Thing: The Role of Flavor Pairing in Obesity.","authors":"Mohammed Ayyad, Eugene Kim","doi":"10.1002/oby.70285","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.70285","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94163,"journal":{"name":"Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148877022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"GLP-1 Receptor Agonists, Gastric Emptying, and Mechanisms of Weight Loss.","authors":"David S Ludwig, Arne Astrup","doi":"10.1002/oby.70299","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.70299","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94163,"journal":{"name":"Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148842689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mark I Friedman, W Scott Harmsen, Michael Camilleri
{"title":"Response to \"GLP-1 Receptor Agonists, Gastric Emptying, and Mechanisms of Weight Loss\".","authors":"Mark I Friedman, W Scott Harmsen, Michael Camilleri","doi":"10.1002/oby.70300","DOIUrl":"10.1002/oby.70300","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94163,"journal":{"name":"Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148852324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michael Lim, Pooja Gokhale, Akwasi Akosah, Lorenzo Vila Zapata
{"title":"Response to \"The Challenge of Dose-Specific Comparisons in Obesity Pharmacotherapy\".","authors":"Michael Lim, Pooja Gokhale, Akwasi Akosah, Lorenzo Vila Zapata","doi":"10.1002/oby.70297","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.70297","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94163,"journal":{"name":"Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148842669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vance L Albaugh, Hector Garcia Navas, Robert C Ross, Florina Corpodean, Michael Kachmar, Denise M Danos, Steven B Heymsfield, Peter Katzmarzyk, Michael W Cook, Philip R Schauer
{"title":"Extreme Obesity (BMI ≥ 60 kg/m<sup>2</sup>) Characterization up to and Beyond 80 kg/m<sup>2</sup> in 1,262,454 Bariatric Surgery Patients.","authors":"Vance L Albaugh, Hector Garcia Navas, Robert C Ross, Florina Corpodean, Michael Kachmar, Denise M Danos, Steven B Heymsfield, Peter Katzmarzyk, Michael W Cook, Philip R Schauer","doi":"10.1002/oby.70289","DOIUrl":"10.1002/oby.70289","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to estimate extreme obesity prevalence and association with disease burden and outcomes in patients undergoing metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Cross-sectional data from the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP, 2015-2023) were analyzed (n = 1,795,127). Preoperative disease burden and 30-day outcomes were compared across BMI categories (< 40, 40.0-49.9, 50.0-59.9, 60.0-69.9, 70.0-79.9, and ≥ 80 kg/m<sup>2</sup>), emphasizing extreme obesity compared to lower BMI categories.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Extreme obesity represented 5.3% of the eligible sample, though even higher BMI values (i.e., ≥ 70 kg/m<sup>2</sup>) were consistently present in 1.1% of cases annually (13,677 cases/9 years). Relative to BMI < 40 kg/m<sup>2</sup>, patients with the highest BMI values (≥ 70 kg/m<sup>2</sup>) had significantly greater frequency of hypertension (56.7% vs. 46.9%), sleep apnea (59.6% vs. 34.6%), COPD (2.6% vs. 1.1%), and functional dependence (4.5% vs. 0.5%). Increasing BMI category was associated with increased serious complications (2.6% vs. 0.7%; p < 0.001) and mortality (0.35% vs. 0.05%; p < 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Extreme obesity is common in MBS, and greater BMI is associated with progressively higher comorbidity burden and complications. Despite the higher frequency of complications, absolute events are low and do not contraindicate multidisciplinary obesity treatment. Strategies to reduce preoperative BMI among patients with the highest BMI values warrant evaluation.</p>","PeriodicalId":94163,"journal":{"name":"Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13588579/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148815433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Martin K Rutter, Julie Mount, J Martin Gibson, Joanne Webb, Cheryl Marler, Catherine Reed, Mugdha Gore, Wenyu Ye, Elisa Gomez Valderas, John Wilding, Naveed Sattar, Melanie J Davies, Kamlesh Khunti, Richard Haynes, Rachel L Batterham
{"title":"SURMOUNT-REAL UK: A Pragmatic Randomized Clinical Trial to Assess the Effectiveness of Tirzepatide in Adults With Obesity.","authors":"Martin K Rutter, Julie Mount, J Martin Gibson, Joanne Webb, Cheryl Marler, Catherine Reed, Mugdha Gore, Wenyu Ye, Elisa Gomez Valderas, John Wilding, Naveed Sattar, Melanie J Davies, Kamlesh Khunti, Richard Haynes, Rachel L Batterham","doi":"10.1002/oby.70247","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.70247","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>SURMOUNT-REAL UK will evaluate the effectiveness of tirzepatide when offered in addition to standard-of-care (SoC) in adults with Class I obesity (BMI ≥ 30 and ≤ 34.9 kg/m<sup>2</sup>) and without diabetes in a UK primary care setting.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A 5-year, phase 4, multicenter, open-label, pragmatic randomized clinical trial is enabled through access to participants' integrated electronic healthcare record data. The study will enroll approximately 3000 participants from Greater Manchester, UK, who are randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either tirzepatide and SoC or SoC alone.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The primary endpoint is the percent change in body weight from baseline to Month 24, with the time to onset of type 2 diabetes to Month 60 being the key secondary endpoint. Additional endpoints include the impact of tirzepatide versus SoC on obesity-related complications, health-related quality of life, healthcare resource utilization, productivity, employment, and sickness-related absences.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>SURMOUNT-REAL UK employs a novel study design to evaluate real-world health outcomes and potential long-term benefits for both participants and the healthcare system associated with the delivery of pharmacological obesity treatment at a population level. The study is intended to generate critical evidence to support informed decision-making in obesity management, clinical guideline development, and healthcare policy.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT07247084.</p>","PeriodicalId":94163,"journal":{"name":"Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148261121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}